How walkable is your Spokane nabe?
Via the Sightline Institute we learned of a great new Google Maps mashup that analyzes (albeit loosely) how walkable your neighborhood is. Using walkscore.com, punch in an address and it calculates a score based on the services available to and within proximity of your address.
Not perfect considering it doesn't take into account the nature of a street (sidewalks, curbside parking, traffic speeds, etc), but a thought provoking mashup nevertheless. For fun we entered a few addresses to see how well it calculated walkability here in Spokane. Take a gander. There are some interesting comparisons...
- West College Avenue (West Central)
- South Chestnut St. (Browne's Addition)
- South Moran View (Eagle Ridge)
- West 23rd Avenue (Manito Park)
- West Lacey (Hillyard)
- North Forest Blvd (Indian Trail
List your neighborhood score in the comments below.
What a fun new toy! 14th and Grand ranks a whooping 52. Still I love my nabe!
Posted by: CB | July 27, 2007 at 08:52 AM
52 would be a huge step up for me. Not suprisingly, my neighborhood in Liberty Lake gets a 9. Damn sprawl car-culture!
Posted by: tippleman | July 27, 2007 at 11:15 AM
Maple St. and Wellesley Ave. area lists at 71!
Loma Vista Park area lists at 52.
The later seems more people friendly to me!
Posted by: dan/Spokane | July 28, 2007 at 05:57 AM
78 for West Fifth Avenue. Apparently being able to walk to the local Pizza Hut is a good thing.
Posted by: E. | July 28, 2007 at 11:43 AM
My neighboorhood, E. 16th between Rockwood Blvd. and SE Blvd., only scord a 43. They're missing several of the restaurants and coffee shops in the immediate vicinity, including The Shop and Rockwood Bakery, and several of the businesses along S. Perry don't show, all of which would raise the score.
We also have sidewalks everywhere, and that's a huge walkability factor. I imagine there are problems finding the data source for that, but it would definitely weight the score even more in favor of urban areas over suburban.
I'd be interested in seeing the equivalent for cycling, which could take into account a wider radius. The full range of services south to 29th and SE Blvd. and north toward downtown through S. Perry and East Central make this a great location for access via bike. Anything like that out there?
Posted by: Barb | July 28, 2007 at 12:59 PM
I grew up on the North side of town between Division and Nevada just North of Francis - that area received a 55.
I have since moved to the West side of the state (Edmonds, WA to be exact), which scored a 73.
Interesting application. Thanks for sharing! :)
Posted by: joshua | August 01, 2007 at 11:48 AM