Since we're now only a year away from law school's finish, Aaron and I have begun to ponder what life without either one of us in school might be like. Aaron is working on interviewing at firms in a variety of locations. We've begun asking ourselves just where we would like to end up. My answer: somewhere I can walk, run, and ride my bike with ease. Bonus points for the availability of hiking trails and the beach.
That may seem like a small thing but I've fallen deeply in love with car-independence. Being able to walk around is for me a great litmus test for the area's quality of life. We currently live only blocks away from the supermarket, the law school, one of my favorite clothing stores and a bookstore. I can bike to work, the art store, and the library. Most of our friends live in easy walking or biking distance. The only time I'm now regularly getting into my car is to drive to church, and that's only because I have not yet mastered biking in a skirt.
I hate that I might loose this new found freedom in a year. I didn't know how I would even begin to search for a similar location But to my great JOY I found www.walkscore.com. Type in an address and it will tell you just how "walkable" the neighborhood you live in is. My current address and my home town address scored 62 and 63 out of 100.
Here are some of the perks of living in a pedestrian friendly neighborhood, as listed on the site:
Better health: A study in Washington State found that the average resident of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood weighs 7 pounds less than someone who lives in a sprawling neighborhood1. Residents of walkable neighborhoods drive less and suffer fewer car accidents, a leading cause of death between the ages of 15 - 45.
Reduction in greenhouse gas: Cars are a leading cause of global warming. Your feet are zero pollution transportation machines. (And you burn your own fuel, calories, i.e. that extra cupcake you probably should have passed on)
More transportation options: Compact neighborhoods tend to have higher population density, which leads to more public transportation options and bicycle infrastructure. Not only is taking the bus cheaper than driving, but riding a bus is ten times safer than driving a car!
Increased social capital: Walking increases social capital by promoting face-to-face interaction with your neighbors. Studies have shown that for each 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10 percent
Stronger local businesses: Dense, walkable neighborhoods provide local businesses with the foot traffic they need to thrive. It's easier for pedestrians to shop at many stores on one trip, since they don't need to drive between destinations.
And some more reasons from me:
Getting a chance to enjoy the outdoors each day and watch the seasons change
Saving time by merging commute and workout time into one event
Building character when you alone are the only kid whose mother will not pick them up because she knows you are well within walking distance
21 comments:
You know what's funny? Our house scored a 62 also!
i believe that your house is 62, mom! robby and i used to walk or bike to the grocery store, movies, middle school, etc growing up- and it was great!
our apartment got 45. not surprising. i've been frusterated with how shut in i feel here sometimes- especially cuz i would love to take eliza in her stroller to places like the grocery store or something on days when steve has the car. alas.
Sounds great to me Katy. I wish more people felt like you do.
wow, I just did this and my house got 55 and I learned the names of a ton of stores I have never even heard of. Thanks Katy. As usual, your blog does not disappoint. Another fun test to take is http://www.livingto100.com/. It tells your life expectancy. Don't take it if you are pregnant though, because all that extra iron will really shorten your life span.
Ha, I'm currently living with my parents and guess what I got? 12. Good thing I got a natural gas car today, about 75 cents to the gallon and clean fuel, woot.
12?!? That's TERRIBLE. Where are you?
Wow...I just put in my house in Leesburg and got a 3. It's actually a decent place to walk, very pedestrian friendly, but there are no stores or any other facilities anywhere close--except for a golf course I suppose.
Studies seem to show Better health benefits? I'd just like to be the devil's advocat and point out that it seems to contradict the article about how people who run outdoors in cities have a greater chance of developing cancer than people who do not go out doors. :)
Also the relationship between riding in a car and decreased community involvement--that seems sketchy. Without having read the studies you mentioned, I think that the statistics you mentioned are more realistically a snapshot of society's values than a relationship between car time and social involvement. I'm interested in reading the study if you could remember where you learned about it.
I was going to tell you that Provo is the place for you because my apartment is a 69, (which I thought was pretty good) but then I looked up my old address in NY, and it was 100.
If you go to the walkscore.com they have all statistic sited and linked to additional reading.
The stat on being seven pounds lighter comes from two studies' findings summarized in the winter edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Planning Association.
Besides that, I think most of the info is logical. You spend 80 minutes in a commute you have less time to spend involved in community events, regardless of your values. Time is precious a commodity.
When we lived in NY Aaron and I both became trimmer because walking was how you got around. Whether you wanted to exercise or not, you got a LOT of steps in because of the environment we lived in.
We all know exercise improves our health. Poor air quality can dampen the positive effects but it is still well worth it to get off the couch.
Does that mean that you don't know where you heard the stat on commuting and community involvement? ;) (80 minutes of commuting is a long commute! Who has time to be involved when their drive is that long?)
Don't worry, the commute - community activity stat is also sited on www.walkscore.com. I wouldn't dream of giving you information without a source. :)
And Aaron's DC commutes were crazy long this summer. Easily an hour +.
Bec, I figured NY would be top of the list. 69 for Provo is awesome too. I'm curious what and where and how many non-urban areas have high scores...
I typed in my address in Paris in and it only got a 45, which is a load of malarcky, as we did not have a car and I walked everywhere. one thing the site said was that there are factors that are not involved in the score and one of those is public transportation...which is great in Paris. Plus, it is great for community involvement because you get to stand really close to tons of strangers and breathe on each other and all that stuff.
Our place on the other side of the burg showed up at 23. Not too bad, but I think it may have even more potential once they finish building the shopping center off 7. Harris Teeter is certainly closer than Costco (Adam just did a milk run at HT minutes ago), and it didn't show up.
Guess what the Cummings home base scored? A 3!!! I am apalled. Almost I am persuaded to run for local office and try to get a bike path that leads to our neighborhood. It's not easy to bike to town when 18 wheelers are tailgating the dumptrucks on the road to town. Ah, alas. I will use this tool when I move on in life though. Thanks!
You should run for office Dan. You'd have my vote.
Marie, I think our house in Leesburg got a 23 because it misplaced several stores where houses actually are located. Darn geeks got it wrong (they can't seem to get Potomac Station Drive addresses right). Harris Teeter is close but it still took me half an hour to do the shopping and that was using a car. I'd love to live in a walkable community, btw.
Also, the Google Map team just announced that you can use Google Maps to measure distances and it accommodates trails, etc (not just roads).
Google Maps post - Happy Trails
Very Cool. Thanks Adam!
What a cool site. Our house got a 42, not great. We have lots of stuff within walking distance...but there are NO sidewalks. OK if you're biking, not OK if you're pushing a stroller.
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