How Walkable is YOUR address?

[IronTiger]

Recently I discovered Walkscore.com, a website that rates your home's "walkability factor" by comparing it to nearby shops, restaurants, and civic buildings. Although surprised that it actually had College Station, I was disappointed with a few aspects: it measured miles "as the bird flies", not taking into account contorted road shapes, or if a place had sidewalks or not, or if there were busy roads. Plus it was several months out of date. My listing was far below 40 (car dependent). Conversely, I punched in a random address in the Montrose area and got 86. Other areas of Houston area did not do so well...a Woodlands address got in the 30s and a lot in the abandoned Brownwood nature park got a 2. What did you get?

[bachanon]

that's a cool site. i received a 37 in grogan's mill, the woodlands. i put in a waterway avenue address in town center and received an 82. i also entered addresses at 100 travis, downtown, and 2500 robinhood, rice village, which received 89 and 82 respectively.

[kylejack]

97. Downtown.

[trymahjong]

sooooooooooooooooooo I scored 91 out of 100--------I live right by Baba Yega------- Why not the 97score that the downtown dweller got?

[kylejack]

We got tunnels

[rsb320]

sooooooooooooooooooo I scored 91 out of 100--------I live right by Baba Yega------- Why not the 97score that the downtown dweller got?

I'm not giving this tool a lot of weight. I live in 77006 also, but only score a 72. I can easily walk to Baba Yega, Kroger, Walgreen's and Sears, as well as the Social Security Office.

[barracuda]

My score is 69 . I'm near Studewood and 11th.

[RedScare]

My score is 69 . I'm near Studewood and 11th.

You must be on the auto-centric side of Studewood and 11th. My side's score is 74...this is actually 1 less than it was last month.

Apparently, I have the most walkable house on my block. Every other house has a walkscore of 71 or lower. Only mine is 74.

[sevfiv]

I don't give it a lot of weight either - I remember using it when I lived elsewhere and it counted odd things that didn't exist or were categorized in weird ways.

I live in a 32 but I don't think there is much less around me than my previous address (62). My previous previous address was an 80 but that's the one that listed odd things..

[crunchtastic]

Is this the same as the last one someone posted here about a year ago? That counts the coffee plant a few blocks away from me as a coffee house? Why yes it is. ....meaningless internet metrics for uptight city people who love conversations about density but have never been to the bar or convenience store closest to their house.

Not to worry, the male prostitutes don't contaminate the spouts on the drink station any worse than your neighbors' dirty little soccer kids would.

[Ross]

I'm not giving this tool a lot of weight. I live in 77006 also, but only score a 72. I can easily walk to Baba Yega, Kroger, Walgreen's and Sears, as well as the Social Security Office.

I'm curious as to the importance of being able to walk to the SS office. Having been in one of those once in my life, to get an application for a replacement card, it's not something I would put high on my walkability list. Unlike, say, a post office.

[TheNiche]

Recently I discovered Walkscore.com, a website that rates your home's "walkability factor" by comparing it to nearby shops, restaurants, and civic buildings. Although surprised that it actually had College Station, I was disappointed with a few aspects: it measured miles "as the bird flies", not taking into account contorted road shapes, or if a place had sidewalks or not, or if there were busy roads. Plus it was several months out of date. My listing was far below 40 (car dependent). Conversely, I punched in a random address in the Montrose area and got 86. Other areas of Houston area did not do so well...a Woodlands address got in the 30s and a lot in the abandoned Brownwood nature park got a 2. What did you get?

It's not very good in many situations. Eastwood scores in the low 50s on mostly-legitimate trip generators.

Compare that with my old neighborhood off of Almeda near Holly Hall, which scores a 66 off of two grocery stores that are actually gas stations, another grocery store that is actually a distribution center for Grocers Supply Company, a so-called park that is actually an apartment complex named "Versailles Park", a bar that is misplaced on the map and was also torn down over a year ago, a drug store that is actually an ambulance dispatch, a coffee house that is actually a coffee distribution warehouse, schools that include a defensive driving school and a barber school, a Kipp Academy that was misplaced on the map, another elementary school that's in Galena Park ISD, and parks and libraries that are actually administrative offices of the county parks and library departments, respectively, as well as the Harris County Precinct #1 offices which were counted as a park but have practically nothing to do with parks. Among the "Clothing & Misc." category, the neighborhood features an "oriental bath house" and a self-storage complex. All this, yet if the coding were consistently crappy and it'd captured all the BS destinations that it doesn't show, and the score would be higher still.

[crunchtastic]

Compare that with my old neighborhood off of Almeda near Holly Hall, which scores a 66 off of two grocery stores that are actually gas stations, another grocery store that is actually a distribution center for Grocers Supply Company, a so-called park that is actually an apartment complex named "Versailles Park", a bar that is misplaced on the map and was also torn down over a year ago, a drug store that is actually an ambulance dispatch, a coffee house that is actually a coffee distribution warehouse, schools that include a defensive driving school and a barber school, a Kipp Academy that was misplaced on the map, another elementary school that's in Galena Park ISD, and parks and libraries that are actually administrative offices of the county parks and library departments, respectively, as well as the Harris County Precinct #1 offices which were counted as a park but have practically nothing to do with parks. Among the "Clothing & Misc." category, the neighborhood features an "oriental bath house" and a self-storage complex. All this, yet if the coding were consistently crappy and it'd captured all the BS destinations that it doesn't show, and the score would be higher still.

who knew? you had it going on over there by the TMC.

[editor]

It's not entirely accurate, but it's a good start.

I've been using it for the last few weeks for looking for a new place to live. There isn't another resource I've found where you can type in an address and list all of the supermarkets and other types of stores nearby. It's far from perfect, but it's the best thing out there right now.

Here's for my current address:

For my move, I won't consider an apartment that doesn't score at least a 95, which really isn't all that hard.

[hoef]

Mine is off, got a 64 and I live 5 mins from the Gingerman and Roberts Elementary .... should have been high 80ies

[kylejack]

5 minute walk or 5 minute drive?

[Laura1406]

I get a 88 near the Burger Barrel

[Subdude]

From Offcite, a walkability map of Houston. Green means walkable, red means car-dependent.

Link to more

[JLWM8609]

From Offcite, a walkability map of Houston. Green means walkable, red means car-dependent.

Link to more

Looks like the walkability extending from the Midtown area juts a bit into Riverside Terrace, but stops just short of me in Riverside.

[HTX]

Only an 83 for my 006 address but figure it will go over 100 when Google approves Spec's

[IronTiger]

That green splotch at the intersection of I-10 and Beltway 8 is likely created by CityCentre.

[dbigtex56]

I'm an 88. As an actual pedestrian, this figure seems optimistic to me.

I live in what might be considered the heart of Montrose, but to say everything's convenient... I'll say "kinda".

Then too, I'm getting old and lazy.

[RedScare]

That green splotch at the intersection of I-10 and Beltway 8 is likely created by CityCentre.

Or maybe you get bonus points for pedestrian friendly freeway flyovers?

[TheNiche]

Or maybe you get bonus points for pedestrian friendly freeway flyovers?

Probably not. As near as I can tell, pedestrian access is determined by the centerline of roadways. That's how a liquor store in Sunnyside counts as a grocery store within walking distance of apartments and condos near the Astrodome.

[dbigtex56]

Probably not. As near as I can tell, pedestrian access is determined by the centerline of roadways. That's how a liquor store in Sunnyside counts as a grocery store within walking distance of apartments and condos near the Astrodome.

Good point. As many pedestrians know, the centerline of roadways isn't an ideal place to walk.

The Walkscore website (How it doesn't work -known issues) acknowledges this problem:

Distance: We are currently using "as the crow flies" distances rather than walking directions. This means if you live across the lake from a destination, we are assuming you will swim. And if you live in a subdivision with long curving streets with few intersections, we hope your neighbors don't mind you walking through their back yard. We are in the process of upgrading Walk Score to use walking distances rather than flying distances.

Therein lies the problem - we simply don't have enough (any?) data to make a practical assessment of current conditions and how they affect pedestrians.

An example: Metro has a trip planner feature on its website. While it may identify the bus stop physically closest to a destination, it doesn't address the "you can't get there from here" conundrum. Being only a few hundred yards away from your destination is pointless, if the direct route requires jaywalking across a freeway. I wonder how many collective miles have been walked, needlessly, by people who have been misinformed by this site.

Walkscore seems like a good idea, and will surely improve. One hopes conditions will improve for pedestrians, too.