Walkscore.com scores - I thought I’d see more green.
I live in Wedgwood, and have been trying really, really hard lately to find alternatives to using my car to get places. That’s why I was pretty curious to see how Wedgwood ranked compared to some other neighborhoods. Now, I know we’re not going to be as walkable as other neighborhoods like downtown, Queen Anne, Capitol Hill - but I’m pretty sure we can kick some Bryant butt.
And so imagine my surprise to see in Walkability’s most walkable Seattle neighborhoods such much red in Wedgwood compared to Bryant - and an especially high amount of red in the heart of Wedgwood (indicated by the arrow) where the following services are easy to walk to:
* QFC
* Rite Aid drug store
* Two places to get your hair done
* Nail salon
* Two coffee shops
* A place to get the dog groomed
* At least 4 banks
* Two restaurant/bars
* A laundrymat
* Post office
* A couple of gift shops
* A few elementary schools
* A few churches
And compare this to where the arrow is pointing to in ’green’ Bryant - what’s really close by there - a school?
I don’t know anything about the algorithm, but I the heatmap is a little too diffused in the neighborhoods.
And on a side note, if you are in Northeast Seattle you might want to check out Safe Walks, it’s a group advocating for improved sidewalk infrastructure in the north part of the city.
4 comments
I think the ‘wood’s score is out of whack because the google tool they use to create the mash-up doesn’t have many of the local businesses (like the QFC, the Top Pot) in it’s index.
Walkability.com is a great idea and it will be nice to see the 2.0 version. Right now, the neighborhood definitions look like they are based on the ones on the City of Seattle website. Those maps are very outdated and don’t reflect what all neighborhoods see as their boundaries. Also, I agree with Eric that they don’t include a lot of items that should be included, while they do include items that don’t make sense to include - or that don’t exist.
And…walkability.com does not consider the infrastructure (e.g. sidewalks and crosswalks, etc.). Those are critical items in making a neighborhood walkable.
Thank you for the plug for Safe Walks! We are getting great feedback and are really trying to advocate for city wide changes to ensure safe walking infrastructure for all of us. Stay tuned, I think we will have information soon regarding a mid-July public forum on sidewalks and crosswalks.
Good points about the infrastructure and the missing Google data.
You could have tons of services in your area, but if you don’t have any sidewalks to get there and the search engine doesn’t know about ‘em…
I wonder if they even realize that much of the north end doesn’t have sidewalks to “walkability” on. They also don’t factor in topography. I’m four blocks from our biz district, but the first part of that four blocks is not all that much different than climbing a two-block set of stairs.
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