Walk Score

Big news!  We’re thrilled to announce that the Rockefeller Foundation awarded a grant to Front Seat (makers of Walk Score) to enhance Walk Score.

We’re using the grant to add public transit, transportation cost, and greenhouse gas emission data to Walk Score.   We’re also going to make Walk Score open source!

Today we are launching WalkScore.org where we’ll make the Walk Score source code publicly available.  We’ll also host forums there for discussing walkability and other improvements to Walk Score. Visit WalkScore.org to sign up for updates.

So what does this mean for you?

• You’ll see public transit stops on the Walk Score map
• Public transit accessibility will be factored into your Walk Score
• You’ll see your predicted transportation cost and greenhouse gas emissions provided by The Center for Neighborhood Technology

We are grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for their generosity, vision, and support!

Read the press release.

Thank you John D. Rockefeller!

If your Walk Score is 70, is that good or bad?

We just added a “Compare Your Score” feature to Walk Score that shows how your score compares to other people in your city. Look up any address on Walk Score and you’ll see the new Compare Your Score box just under the map.

Well, I thought I was sitting pretty with a Walk Score of 95 in Seattle—but it turns out 14% of Seattlites have a higher Walk Score!

How about where I grew up in Kansas?  That house has a Walk Score of 60 and 29% of Topekans have a higher score.

Don’t tell my boss, but I just spent the last hour looking up every place I’ve lived!

Looking for a bright spot in the housing market?  CEOs for Cities just released a study based on data from Walk Score and ZipRealty that shows one point of Walk Score is worth as much as $3,000 depending on the metro area.  Read the study.

Upset about your home’s value?  The good news is that you, your neighbors, and government can work together to make your neighborhood more walkable—and a higher Walk Score makes your home worth more.

Here’s the value of one point of Walk Score by city:

In 13 out of 15 metro areas, higher Walk Scores are directly linked to higher home values.  Homes with above-average Walk Scores are worth between $4,000 – $34,000 more than similar but less walkable homes.

So why do Las Vegas and Bakersfield have lower home prices with higher Walk Scores?  My hunch is that those sprawling cities don’t have enough walkable neighborhoods to create a price premium.  Also, in Las Vegas residents may actually pay more to be farther away from The Strip.

Read the research report and let us know what you think!

The Walk Score iPhone App is available for free in the Apple App Store!  The app makes it simple to get the Walk Score where you are right now.

Download the app to get:

• The Walk Score of any location
• Map of nearby amenities with walking directions
• No more typing addresses! (use GPS instead)
• Reviews and ratings of amenities

Did you know men are 3X as likely to bike to work as women?

Did you know weather matters less than you think?  Montana and Alaska have some of the coldest temperatures and highest levels of cycling.

What else don’t you know?! The Benchmarking Report from the Alliance for Biking and Walking is the most comprehensive report we’ve seen on bicycling and walking in the U.S.

I love all of the city rankings and state-by-state comparisons. Go Portland!  The #1 city for biking to work.

This video sums up why we’re so passionate about walkable neighborhoods.

Fun fact for Earth Day: according to the U.S. Census, 97 million Americans drive to work every day alone.  Only 6 million take public transit.  We’d like to introduce you to two people who are going to help us change that.

We’re thrilled to announce that Seleta Reynolds and Bronwen Thornton are joining the Walk Score Advisory Board.

Seleta is a consultant for Fehr & Peers, President of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, and serves on the Transportation Research Board Pedestrian Committee.

Seleta is an expert walkability practitioner and we’re excited to have her help as we work to make Walk Score more accurate.

Bronwen is Development Director for Walk21, the leading international conference on walkability. Bronwen has worked on transportation policy related to walking and biking in Britain, Australia, and Canada.

We’re excited about the international perspective Brownwen brings to Walk Score as we expand our coverage to more countries.

Welcome Seleta and Bronwen!

I’m reading the GOOD Magazine Transportation issue and there’s so much important stuff in it I just can’t tweet all of it.  This issue is a great primer in transportation innovation—go forth and read!

In no particular order…

Great Joseph Sussman Interview: He’s an MIT prof and advisor to DoT.  Love this quote, “Charge cars on a per mile basis, depending on what road you were traveling, at what time of day, in what kind of car.”  He also explains why we’re not investing enough in high-speed rail.

Zach Dundas pines after the coolest bike in the world:

Innovative Buses in Bogotá:

And of course the Walk Score article:

I wish I could say that the Boston Globe interviewed me for this article and that I was SO on message that they covered all my talking points.   But I tend to ramble—so maybe this article is so good precisely because I wasn’t interviewed?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/04/05/walk_this_way/

“Walkability has become a buzzword in real estate, as environmentalists and “green” planners advocate compact residential neighborhoods near businesses and public transportation. And some realtors say in this difficult market, houses with high walkability scores are easier to sell: Owners can save money by walking to mass transit, and by using less gas when running errands.”

Barack Obama is creating our country’s first Office of Urban Policy to revitalize our cities.  Front Seat (makers of Walk Score) just launched ObamaUrbanPolicy.org, a site that lets you submit and vote on the top priorities for this new office.

Take a look at the top priorities and cast your vote!

More on Front Seat: We build civic software—software that makes it easier to participate in your government or community.  This week we also launched ObamaCTO and you can check out our full list of projects here.