Walk Score - How walkable is your house?

[ignatius]

Here's the top 30 list (it's by entire neighborhood, not specific address)....

I don't buy into it but there it is.

More here...
http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/walkers-paradises.php

1 Tribeca, New York 100
2 Little Italy, New York 100
3 Soho, New York 100
4 Garment District, New York 99
5 Chinatown, San Francisco 99
6 Murray Hill, New York 99
7 Chinatown, New York 99
8 Financial District, San Francisco 99
9 Financial District, New York 99
10 Old Westport, Kansas City 99
11 Midtown, New York 99
12 Greenwich Village, New York 99
13 Chelsea, New York 99
14 Battery Park, New York 99
15 Pearl District, Portland 99
16 East Village, New York 99
17 Dupont Circle, Washington D.C. 99
18 Pioneer Square, Seattle 99
19 Clinton, New York 99
20 Upper East Side, New York 99
21 Morningside Heights, New York 98
22 City Center East, Philadelphia 98
23 West Village, New York 98
24 Loop, Chicago 98
25 Upper West Side, New York 98
26 Downtown, New York 98
27 Gramercy, New York 98
28 City Center West, Philadelphia 98
29 Downtown, San Francisco 98

[ignatius]

Criteria here...
http://www.walkscore.com/walkable-neighborhoods.shtml

So maybe Westport  scores higher than say Upper East Side because it has very narrow streets, variety of schools (karate to dancing to parochial) and everything from comic book stores, post office, library, vintage clothing stores, ethnic restaurants, to a key maker shop. Mixed income is also a criteria and Upper East Side is obviously not as mixed. 

I could kinda see how Westport makes it.  It's not like it's more appealing than others below it, but it may have a better urban amenity balance than other hoods that have far more pedestrian activity.

[staubio]

Let's hope that fans of mostly arbitrary lists flock to Westport and double its density!

[ignatius]

Lists are like misleading advertising.  They are both effective at creating a stir and drawing attention.  Sometimes it can be a good thing if it benefits your own hood.

Is bizarre to see Westport in the list even if it has no merit - but maybe it does.

[staubio]

It almost seems like some of Westport's suburban development is an advantage in these rankings. Two Three strip malls with tons of everyday amenities, a big suburban grocery store, etc. By these metrics, a dense urban neighborhood can't compete.

Still, it is cool to see KC in that list.

[staubio]

I just noticed that Hanover Place in KC is number 3. Really?

Quality Hill isn't even on the list. Crossroads either.

[loftguy]

I just noticed that Hanover Place in KC is number 3. Really?

Quality Hill isn't even on the list. Crossroads either.

Where is Hanover Place?

[staubio]

Where is Hanover Place?

Northeast of westport. North of 39th to about Armour, east of Broadway to Hyde Park

[dangerboy]

It almost seems like some of Westport's suburban development is an advantage in these rankings. Two Three strip malls with tons of everyday amenities, a big suburban grocery store, etc. By these metrics, a dense urban neighborhood can't compete.

Still, it is cool to see KC in that list.

C'mon, it's not that suburban.  The parking at SunFresh is comparable to any supermarket in an urban neighborhood in any city.  It's actually a small lot for one of the five busiest grocery stores in the whole metro area.  And it actually has less surface parking than the City Market

[Midtownkid]

C'mon, it's not that suburban.  The parking at SunFresh is comparable to any supermarket in an urban neighborhood in any city.

NO IT'S NOT!!  Have you been to a grocery store in an urban neighborhood on the east coast?  Some grocers don't even have lots at all...other have parking on the roof or underground.

[dangerboy]

NO IT'S NOT!!  Have you been to a grocery store in an urban neighborhood on the east coast?  Some grocers don't even have lots at all...other have parking on the roof or underground.

Many stores do have surface lots in residential areas of urban neighborhoods.  In just the past year I've been in Chicago, Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. In each city I have shopped in urban grocery stores with surface parking lots.

[chrizow]

it's even more so in KC's peer cities.  urban groceries in mpls, austin, etc. have parking lots at least that large.  there are also strip malls all over the city of chicago, although they usually have pretty small parking lots.

i also saw Safeway stores in dense areas of San Francisco with large surface lots.  im sure urban groceries exist there, but i didn't see them.

[staubio]

C'mon, it's not that suburban.  The parking at SunFresh is comparable to any supermarket in an urban neighborhood in any city.  It's actually a small lot for one of the five busiest grocery stores in the whole metro area.  And it actually has less surface parking than the City Market

The City Market parking is probably similar, considering the interior of the City Market is intended for market use, not parking. That is really beside the point, though.

I'm just making sense of the ranking. Yes, there are stripmalls in other cities. No, this doesn't instantly invalidate the fact that Westport does well in the WalkScore rankings. It just explains it for me. You don't get stuff like Radio Shack, the eyeglasses store, etc, without having some lower-rent stripmall development in the neighborhood, and that contributes to a lot of walkable amenities, even though it is clear that these developments were all made with the car in mind.

[dangerboy]

Walk Score's algorithm is based on the proximity of services.  It has no way of evaluating the urban form or the build environment.  Obviously Midtown has some serious built environment issues with the suburbanesque retail design, but even with the parking lots it still manages to pack an huge amount of services into a small area.

[staubio]

Walk Score's algorithm is based on the proximity of services.   It has no way of evaluating the urban form or the build environment.  Obviously Midtown has some serious built environment issues with the suburbanesque retail design, but even with the parking lots it still manages to pack an huge amount of services into a small area.

Exactly what I was saying. Thus, when our minds reel from this ranking because Westport isn't anything like Tribeca, we just have to remember how it pulls it off.

[phna]

"The top 4 neighborhoods in Kansas City are Walkers' Paradises. 14% of Kansas City residents have a Walk Score of 70 or above. 38% have a Walk Score of at least 50?and 62% live in Car-Dependent neighborhoods."

Check out the map.
http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/bigma ... ansas_City

[ignatius]

I'm really surprised to see that 1200 Main to Grand still only scores a 91/92 after all of the new P&L stuff open.  It lists new places like Savvy and Jos A Bank but doesn't have the AMC theaters yet.  The only missing items w/in walking distance are a bookstore and hardware store.

http://www.walkscore.com/get-score.php? ... C+mo&go=Go

[staubio]

I'm really surprised to see that 1200 Main to Grand still only scores a 91/92 after all of the new P&L stuff open.  It lists new places like Savvy and Jos A Bank but doesn't have the AMC theaters yet.  The only missing items w/in walking distance are a bookstore and hardware store.

http://www.walkscore.com/get-score.php? ... C+mo&go=Go

Just a bookstore. Epstein at 8th and Central should be close enough and is technically a hardware store, especially by WalkScores rather unsophisticated identification.

[PumpkinStalker]

I'm really surprised to see that 1200 Main to Grand still only scores a 91/92 after all of the new P&L stuff open.  It lists new places like Savvy and Jos A Bank but doesn't have the AMC theaters yet.  The only missing items w/in walking distance are a bookstore and hardware store.

http://www.walkscore.com/get-score.php? ... C+mo&go=Go

It seems a lot of the updates are user added.  Somebody apparently likes Savvy more than the AMC and added it.

[dangerboy]

I'm really surprised to see that 1200 Main to Grand still only scores a 91/92 after all of the new P&L stuff open.  It lists new places like Savvy and Jos A Bank but doesn't have the AMC theaters yet.  The only missing items w/in walking distance are a bookstore and hardware store.

You seriously aren't happy with 92?  Really? 

Westport has 94 with a lot more stuff within half a mile, which is main criteria.  So 92 is very good, especially considering Downtown still falls short in parks, clothing stores, bookstores, video stores, and music stores.