Though not everyone wants a home in the center of town, there's a really clear set of home buyers looking for vibrant communities where they can walk or bike to most places they want to visit. Being able to get to the store, walk your kids to school, get to work and even go out for dinner on a Friday night - all without a car - now tops the list of what's desirable in a neighborhood for these people.
As it turns out, neighborhoods with a deliberate mix of residential and commercial properties, public green space and community centers are packed with more than just people. With so many nearby destinations they also encourage healthy living. According to a report published in the Journal of American Planning, more walk ability equals less waistline. The report shows that when a neighborhood's walk ability increases by just 5%, the neighbors' body mass index decreases by .23%. The study echoes the results of numerous studies showing clear links between health and neighborhood design. Less driving, reduced impact on the environment, more social interaction, increased connection with neighbors and a stronger local economy are other perks.
Though the term is becoming increasingly popular, walkable communities aren't new. The old town village was a walkable community. The world's biggest metropolitan centers started out as small, walkable communities long before the invention of the car. These cities were natural places for people to settle, build their homes, businesses, schools and town halls - close together.
GET YOUR WALK SCORE
There's been such an increased interest in the concept of walkable communities in fact, that a Seattle company has just launched a website where users can plug in an address and get the "walk score" for that neighborhood. The application is based on information found in Google Maps and though it has it's flaws, is a great tool for home buyers doing a home search outside their region.
The site will generate a walk score for any address that can be found in Google Maps from Tampa to Juneau. The results tend to be fairly accurate, but the generated walk score sometimes trips over the things that Google doesn't know about a neighborhood. Criteria that affect walk ability like weather, crime, hills, trees, rivers and public transit are not taken into account by the Walk Score site. Yet.
One visitor to the site suggests that the application's short comings can be compensated for by "the Web 3.0 app called going outside and investigating the world for yourself." Very funny, but when you're looking for a home in Tampa while you live in Minnesota, this kind of firsthand information isn't possible. What is possible, however, is to use the Walk Score results as a springboard for dealing with your Realtor. Your Realtor makes it their business to know the neighborhoods they serve. If they also have a good understanding of the importance of walk ability to your home search - you're well on your way to finding the right home in the right neighborhood, whether it's in the next state or on the other side of the country.
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