Secrets of the City

I saw this earlier today, it’s neat, but I wouldn’t trust it. It ranks 15222 (the zip code in which I live) very highly. The problem is that all the amenities that my zip code enjoys are closed after 5pm on weekdays and on weekends, so if you happen to move to downtown Pittsburgh based on this web site’s rating, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Wow, that link is slow. I couldn’t get it to work with my downtown address (maybe it doesn’t like numerical street names?) and I got a server error when I tried to enter my former neighborhood (Loring Park).

The server is probably slow because this link was featured on digg.com earlier today and probably some other sites of that type.

The site must be getting slammed. In the time that it scored my neighborhood, I was able to put on my shoes, go outside, take a walk, and find out whether my neighborhood is walkable myself.

My hood is not at all walkable. The closest bar is at least four blocks away.

JC: it’s not because of the massive power of MNSpeak? Huh.

MNSpeak has the power to awaken the beast that is Keillor’s attorney, and can anger Wayne at the drop of a troll, but I dunno about guiding web traffic.

I am not going to leave my desk until I know my walk score…this is quite intriguing

“Wow, that link is slow.“

Well, of course it is. It’s walking. Duh.

…OK, I’m sick of waiting. So, I’m going home…

Sick of waiting also, left the window open for three hours, got nothing. Now, I’m going to drive my car everywhere I go, just to get back at it.

I live on Grand Avenue. I scored at 82/100.

I half agree w/ this link, in that it rated the area where I work (the Midway) as more walkable vs. where I am now. To a certain extent it seems that the 83 for the Midway is truly reflective, what it doesn’t include is the empty (& vast) parking lots, the lack of convenient & safe paths over the interstate, and the more noticeable crime one may find (vs. where I live now). At least where I am, it’s easier to get places w/o necessarily trekking long distances and possibly getting hit by a speeding car, whether on foot or on my bike.

Poor site seems to have gotten a beat down….

Site Temporarily Unavailable
We apologize for the inconvenience. Please contact the webmaster/ tech support immediately to have them rectify this.

error id: “bad_httpd_conf”

The digg effect strikes again!

Where I live in Powderhorn Park gets a 75, which seems a bit low, considering all the commercial activity on Lake and Bloomington. The place I used to live in Midtown Phillips gets an 80, though it seems much less walkable (perhaps because the first time I walked home at night, I got beat up by a gang of teenagers). My old place in Bryn Mawr gets a 42, which seems precisely right — you can walk up to the Bryn Mawr Makret, Cuppa Java, Fast Freddie’s and…that’s it!

For comparison’s sake, the corner of Hennepin and Lake in the action-packed heart of beautiful Uptown hits a home run with 97.

65 for my abode.

Althou they did give credit to a funeral home as a park.

St. Anthony East (off Central and Broadway) gets a 66. Fair enough.

I live in Uptown and I scored a 91. I do love walking.

I live in Uptown too, well East Calhoun technically, and I was surpised that my address only got a 72%. I walk everywhere in the summer, so I thought it would score higher.

It worked for me (finally). I live downtown and got a whopping 100% for walkability. However:

-it considered an FX house and a few theaters as movie theaters. I’m not knocking live theater, but if they’re going to go that route, the category should be called something like “entertainment” rather than “movie theater”
-the Central Library got counted twice as a library (once as the Roosevelt Library) and the ING building was also listed as being a library.
-the Wyman Building, Kickernick Building, and Block E were considered parks

So I think it’s a bit inflated.

My address smack in the middle of Whittier ranked only a 78, which seems very low to me, because I’m honestly not sure how my neighborhood could become any more walkable.

My dear Cathedral Hill got a lowly 67, although it’s definitely missing some points of interest such as Sweeney’s, The Muddy Pig and Garrison’s book store.

On further inspection, I think the site is broken. Mississippi Market is missing from my neighborhood, but listed for a Grand Ave intersection.

But, whatever. I wish this site took cost of living into account. The most walkable neighborhood isn’t that great if only people with Mercedes can afford to live there.

A score of 24 here in Eden Prairie. Ugh. I need out.

This is a very bogas way of really judging the walkability and livability of any neighborhood. It just tells you what areas have stores, schools, bars, etc. It’s OK as far as it goes, but it says nothing about what kind of neighborhood it really is. Is the neighborhood good with low crime, or is it a crime infested area where nobody really wants to walk in the daytime or nighttime. It would be nice if they had a site where you could get this relevent information before possibly moving into a not so good area. At least you might have some idea of what an area is if you are moving hee from out of town or just don’t know.

My walk score is 22& I was rather upset with it. And I was surprised to know that there is another score called drive score to evaluate my house. I found the way to calculate it online at Fizber site (http://drivescore.fizber.com/). Ive got much better results  44.