How walkable is your neighborhood?
There's this interesting site called Walk Score, which tries to assign walkability scores to neighborhoods. So, we decided to drop 10 Capital Region locations into the site. Here's how they ranked:
(Scale is 1 to 100, the larger number, the more walkable)
10. Guilderland: 25
9. Clifton Park, Clifton Park Center: 25
8. Ballston Spa: 63
7. Delmar, Four Corners: 69
6. Albany, uptown: 71
The top 5 after the jump...
5. Schenectady, Union Avenue neighborhood: 74
4. Troy, River Street: 88
3. Albany, Lark Street: 97
2. Schenectady, Jay Street: 98
1. Saratoga Springs, Broadway: 100
How Walk Score calculates its numbers. It's self-admitted flaws.
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Comments
Rotterdam=74
Pretty neat site, but it almost seems like the list as presented is a "top 10 list". There are probably many more "walkable" areas in our region to go out and enjoy!
I wonder if there is a "bike=able" site out there?
... said kmg on Mar 11, 2008 at 5:31 PM | link
There are probably many more "walkable" areas in our region to go out and enjoy!
Almost certainly. We just picked 10 spots from around the region to test and then ranked them according to their walk scores. If we had the time (and patience), we would have done something more extensive.
I wonder if there is a "bike=able" site out there?
Good question! Maybe someone will turn one up.
... said Greg on Mar 11, 2008 at 5:36 PM | link
I don't understand how they don't take crime statistics into account, it wouldn't be that hard.
... said chief on Mar 11, 2008 at 9:37 PM | link
Prevention magazine recently released a ranking of "walkable" cities that did take crime stats into account. They also included a bunch of other criteria. The report ranked the 10 largest cities in each state according to walkability. Albany and Schenectady ranked #6 and #7 respectively for New York.
... said Greg on Mar 11, 2008 at 10:06 PM | link
I don't walk in Clifton Park. Instead, I just watch the Conservatives elbow, kick, and gouge each other off the public sidewalks.
Bring a picnic lunch, a nice bottle of the red or the white, and perhaps Glenn Gould on the Goldberg Variations. Makes for a divine afternoon.
... said Mark on Mar 12, 2008 at 12:28 PM | link
hmm...yes...about the crime factor--my supposed walkability score is 82. being new here, i might think that it's okay to meander around.
you couldn't pay me to step foot alone, outside my door, at night. it's scary during the day. my personal walkability score: 14.
... said heathah on Mar 12, 2008 at 1:11 PM | link
Yeah, although, Troy gets points for a "theatre" that you can walk to. That theatre is the Cinema Arts, which happens to only show pornography.
... said Mark Anderson on Mar 12, 2008 at 3:57 PM | link
Too bad some of the places they take into "walkability" consideration don't exist anymore. I ran three addresses to check out their walkableness and each one had at least 2 nearby businesses/destinations that are no longer open (grocery stores, libraries, restaurants, etc.)
... said Gina on Mar 13, 2008 at 1:36 PM | link
Late to this party, of course, coming here from the recent car-less post.
Just wanted to note that the Delaware Ave neighborhood has a "walk score" of 88. If this score included accessibility to local drug dealers, that would probably bump it over 90.
... said B on Jun 18, 2009 at 12:14 PM | link