Using a patent-pending algorithm and an amalgam of GoogleMaps, a new web-based tool ranks neighborhood desirability based on its proximity by foot to stores, restaurants, schools, businesses and parks. Its website also makes a compelling case for healthy community design and how to support walkable neighborhoods.

Walk Scores appear on a scale of 0-100, the high score signaling a “Walkers’ Paradise,” where cars are rendered useless and errands are easily accomplished on foot. Inspired by efforts at the Sightline Institute, a Northwest think tank focused on sustainability, Walk Score is currently being marketed as a tool for homebuyers, renters and real estate agents.

For a more interactive approach to neighborhood walkability, check out the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS) highlighted in October’s Landscape Architecture magazine. This 40-question audit was developed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living Research program.

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