Have You Checked Your Walk Score? Did you Even Know You Had One?

A client of mine just introduced me to http://www.walkscore.com/. Just enter your address or the address of the property you are looking to acquire and the site will assess the walkability of the home.

As stated on their web site, “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.”

It is interesting to think about how a walk score might help to assess a properties value. If a home has a better Walk Score is it more valuable? One of the features of the site is to check out celebrity Walk Scores. I checked out Bill Gates’s house and it gets a walk score of 6 out of 100. I wonder if Bill ever walks 2.03 miles to the Lincoln Square Cinema to catch a matinee.  George Bush’s Texas Crawford ranch gets a walk score of 0 out of 100. My home got a 22 out of 100.

Maybe Walk Score has less to do with residential values and more to do with business values. I can tell you that walk-in traffic is extremely important in real estate. The walking score of my office on Solano avenue in Berkeley, California was a 78 out of 100.

Maybe the Walk Score is just a fun tool for individuals to find out what is in or close to a neighborhood. From any angle you look at it, Walking Scores sure are an interesting use of a google maps mash-up and an intriguing different way to look at your neighborhood!