Walkable Cities: How Walkable is Your Address?
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The vast web of data that makes up Walk Score's rating algorithms not only yielded the walkable ratings of Rhode Island's 9 largest cities, but it allows any user to type in his or her street address and get an instant and fascinating assessment of your own personal walkable factor.
But first, the big winners, walkable-wise, in Rhode Island.
Walk Score's rankings of our 9 largest cities put Central Falls at the top of the heap, with a Walk Score of 74 (largely due to the fact that everything in Central Falls is within its one-square-mile boundary, and the Walk Score algorithm rewards points for amenities being within a mile of any location).
Providence, a dominant player on the regional walkability scene, came in a close second, and several of its neighborhoods were particularly strong. Downtown Providence nabbed top honors as a Walker's Paradise, according to Walk Score, with a score of 93. College Hill came in close behind at 90, Fox Point at 89, Smith Hill at 87, and Federal Hill at 86. (For a look at 24 Providence neighborhoods, go here.) The city's least walkable neighborhoods were Washington Park (58), Hartford (55), and Manton (49).
Newport took third place in the rankings with an overall score of 68, while the 02840 zip area of the city pulled a higher score of 70 (the 02841 area was a much less walkable 41).
Pawtucket took fourth in the rankings with a Walk Score of 66, followed by Woonsocket with a 58. Bringing up the pack were Cranston (54), East Providence (52), Warwick (43), and Westerly (42).
How walkable is your address?
It only takes a few clicks. Enter your address into Walk Score's page here, and you'll get not only an assessment of the walkability based on your specific location, but also a whole list of prompts of markets, shopping, restaurants, coffee, schools, parks, bookstores, bars, entertainment, and even banking, with the distances from your address. There's even post offices, hospitals, fitness locations, bike shops and child care.
A second tab called "Your Commute" allows you to program in your commute destination, and Walk Score will estimate how long it will take you on foot, on bicycle, via automobile, and offer transit suggestions. Best yet: it shows, with a spiffy graphic, the hills between your home and your destination, like the elevation of a marathon race course.
To start playing, go here.
