Post Carbon Cities

Skip to content

OTHER POST CARBON INSTITUTE PROGRAMS:   Global Public Media   Relocalization Network   Local Energy Farms   Oil Depletion Protocol   

Resources

Online: Walk Score
walkscore_100.jpg
Published (original article)

The "walk score" uses the proximity of various businesses - grocery stores, drug stores, movie theaters - to calculate the walkability of neighborhoods. Allows visualization of this aspect of accessibility and may help diagnose what works to promote this kind of development.

Published by , http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/

How It Works
Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.

Walk Score uses a patent-pending system to measure the walkability of an address. The Walk Score algorithm awards points based on the distance to the closest amenity in each category. If the closest amenity in a category is within .25 miles (or .4 km), we assign the maximum number of points. The number of points declines as the distance approaches 1 mile (or 1.6 km)—no points are awarded for amenities further than 1 mile. Each category is weighted equally and the points are summed and normalized to yield a score from 0–100. The number of nearby amenities is the leading predictor of whether people walk.

FAIR USE / FAIR DEALING NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to advance understanding of certain public interest issues per the 'fair use' provision of United States Copyright Law section 107 and the 'fair dealing' exception of Canadian Copyright Act section 29.


© 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Post Carbon Institute

Post Carbon Cities: Helping local governments understand and respond to the challenges of peak oil and global warming.
Post Carbon Cities is a program of Post Carbon Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the United States.