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Walkin' Blues

walk.jpgWe got our first link to WalkScore in the email a week ago and the idea of a mapping site that scored the walkability of neighborhoods sounded interesting, but when we tried to visit the site we found that it didn't work in Firefox.

Just now a press release from Sightline came in announcing the site and we checked back to see if they got the browser issues worked out. They have. HOWEVER, WalkScore gave our address in Wallingford a somewhat-disappointing score of 71 out of 100. Come on! They say "70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car." Possible to get by without owning a car? And just barely? Not exactly the high praise we were looking for as the positive-reinforcement needy lifestyle choosers that we are...

DSC00462.JPGNow, after spending most of the past week in Aztec, NM where the nearest breakfast burrito is twenty minutes away and a daytime activity easily involves 6 hours in the car, Wallingford is seeming almost Manhattan-like in terms of walkability. A 71 is a smack in the face.

Can't argue with the numbers, though. It looks like they're scoring on (and including on the map) businesses within three quarters of a mile, which means they're giving Seattlest walking access to only eight bars, one of which is the Rainbow Bar and Grill which is closed (although it doesn't include the Blue Moon, which is closer and, thankfully, open for business). Or maybe they're going out to the mile distance that Alan Durning first mentioned in his original walkshed post that was surely the inspiration for this site.

How about this: The Seattlest reader whose residence gets the highest score from WalkScore gets a prize. Leave your score (not your address) in the comments and we'll get in touch with you about free tickets to something.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Dan in on July 25, 2007 11:19 AM

Comments [rss]

  • v

    97 in Capitol Hill here.

  • guest

    97. Everything is a 10 minute walk away on capitol hill.

  • Pagooey

    60?! I'm in the Ballard/Phinney/Greenwood triangle, and I get 60?



    However, I do appreciate that the truncated list of restaurant names recommends the "Original Pancake Ho."

  • sinatrasiren

    94 for my current Ballard location! It's one of the reason's I picked it b/c I can walk to everything. Now, if I just didn't commute to the Eastside :) !



    I saw Laist did this recently and my old Hollywood neighborhood had an 83!

  • Kim Ruehl

    97. My neighborhood rules!

  • Rainier Beach: 65



    Wedgwood, from which we moved: 58



    Wallingford, where we lived before that: 88

  • Spiff7070

    78, and I live on stodgy ol' Queen Anne.

  • Dan

    @13, Farmington is the place with that Three Rivers brewpub, right? Yep, I was there, and your BHS Class of '86 friends were reuniting this weekened and they say hey. Seemed like a really great place to be from.



    WalkScore for Aztec, NM: 57, Farmington: 75. I assume it uses downtown if you don't give an address. Wallingford: almost as walkable as Farmington, New Mexico.

  • Seth

    Near Greenlake: 72 (but I give myself extra points because walk to Butch's Gun Shop all the time)



    Oddly, my former apt. in Williamsburg, BKN is only an 82.

  • Robin

    Apartment in Licton Springs/Northgate: 72



    Work in Denny Triangle: 89 (Not sure I would count Fantasy Unlimited as a movie theater, though....)



    The family farm I am moving to outside Monroe: 0 (accurate, unless you like to walk to dairy farms)

  • Saxtor

    @10 - The 17 is due to the fact that I live closer to the beach than I do the city of Anacortes. Funny enough, if I lived in the newly remodeled downtown apartment buildings, I'd get a 98.

    My office is located between Real Networks and the Pike Market in Belltown, and gets a meager 83.

  • guest

    Aztec?? Holy crap! Did you go to Farmington? Thats my hometown.

  • lubicus

    98 out of 100

  • guest

    I scored a 95 as well.



    -Wesa

  • Dan

    Jason, yeah, maybe living north of 45th gets you within a mile of Tangletown? Down in sub-40th Wallingford by me there ain't much. Boat yards and marinas apparently don't do a lot for a WalkScore.



    @7, 17? How is that even possible? Where do you live, on a tiny raft in the middle of the Sound? After seeing that score I feel like we should have a prize for lowest score as well.

  • guest

    Yeah! 88 for home and 75 for work. That's good considering I walk between the two.

  • kasa

    74, and I'm smack on the Hill. How the hell does *that* improve?



    Interestingly, my family home in Virginia Beach is 72, which is incredible considering how unwalkable that city is in general.

  • Saxtor

    Not going to win any prizes here. :(

    My place of employment: 83

    My residence:17

  • Jason Josephes

    88, but according to the map I live somewhere very close to Dan. It's the exact same map but plus 17 more points. Maybe it goes up if you're north of 45th?

  • guest

    I live within a mile of the U-Village and right on the Burke Gilman Trail, and I still couldn't get over 75!

  • Geoff

    Former address in Capitol Hill: 89



    Address as of this weak in N. Beacon Hill: 62



    ...and the 62 includes many things that may be less than 3/4 of a mile as the crow flies, but more like 1 1/2 on streets you can actually walk.



    That's kind of depressing.

  • Audrey

    I'm 95 too!

  • guest

    I got a 95, with which I agree. I walk everywhere!

  • coconut

    89

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