[Bigtime]

An editorial in the Calgary Herald today made use of a website called 'Walk Score', that calculates the walkability of an address you give it based on a number of factors and amenities nearby. It is nowhere near perfect and seems to omit some things (it won't show Safeways, Co-ops, transit, etc) but I thought it would be fun for everyone to post their 'walkability' ratings for where they live.

Walk Score (http://walkscore.com/)

I'm in the Beltine community of Calgary and score a 70 (very walkable). Here is my result link:
http://walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=433+11+Avenue+SE%2C+Calgary

So how do you score in your place of residence? Please post a link to yours as well, so those of us not from there can get a feel for the location. Or don't if you worry about someone stalking you on here!

Edit: I'm not sure if this was done before, but this system seems to update pretty well and have very recent amenities added to it. So scores will definitely have changed if it was done before.

[Calgarian]

My beltline apartment gets a score of 73. My last apartment got 80.

[240glt]

My home in north-central Edmonton scored a 48. This seems more accurate than other walkability calculators that usually miss some ammenities. Not taken into account with this calculator is that I am a three block walk to an LRT station, which should drive the number a lot higher.

My recently sold condo on 15th ave & 11th st in Calgary scores an 85, which is what I'd expect from what I'd consider to be the most walkable neighborhood in Calgary.

My old apartment in Nelson BC got an astounding 97 out of 100! It was indeed a walkers' paradise

My old, old house halfway up Silver Star in Vernon scored a whopping 3 out of 100. No suprise there as the nearest store was 15 kms away

[Wooster]

Yonge and St. Clair - just tested 93 ("walkers paradise")

[SHOFEAR]

7/100 seems to generous.

new condo uc. 83/100. woot woot.

[Coldrsx]

73 - which seems low IMO for a condo downtown Edmonton where i literally dont have to walk more than 5 blocks to get anything.



*** i realize why my score is not 80ish...they list my closest grocery as 2.25km away but i have 2 within 5 blocks (save-on, sobeys)

[ReginaGuy]

7/100 seems to generous.

new condo uc. 83/100. woot woot.
7? Even my apartment in suburban Moose Jaw gets 22/100!

my last address (in Regina) isn't much better. It scored 37/100

my girlfriend's apartment (in Regina) scores 77/100 (transition area)

[Wooster]

The system isn't perfect that's for sure. For instance it doesn't catch Safeway Grocery stores anywhere, which probably makes up about half of all grocery stores in Calgary.

My prototypical Calgary suburban house in the NW calgary communtiy of Silver Springs a paltry 37 (you can't walk to shit from there).

[SHOFEAR]

7? Even my apartment in suburban Moose Jaw gets 22/100!

my last address (in Regina) isn't much better. It scored 37/100

http://walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=57+marlboro+road+edmonton

(not my exact adress)

[feepa]

I live in Oliver in downtown Edmonton, and get a score of 60/100

http://walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=9927+114+street+Edmonton%2C+Alberta&go=Go

[240glt]

^ That's suprising. I wonder how much your score would go up if you were even a block closer to Jasper ave ?

[Coldrsx]

our families condo out by UBC rates at a horrible 33/100

[Coldrsx]

SHOFEAR - your new condo rates 83/100

[1ajs]

tells me mines 50 but.... theres a bunch of things its missing like the corner store the comminity center the school the parks at both ends of my st

[Coldrsx]

my cottage in Ontario(port elgin) somehow rates a 23/100...i guess fries on the beach with ice cream is a grocery?

haha

[feepa]

^ That's suprising. I wonder how much your score would go up if you were even a block closer to Jasper ave ?

one block closer to jasper = 63/100

http://walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=10027+114+street+Edmonton%2C+Alberta&go=Go

(The telus building downtown gets 88/100... 10025 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta)

[SHOFEAR]

SHOFEAR - your new condo rates 83/100

see post 5 bub.

I did chuckle when I noticed they counted the hardware grill as a hardware store.

[Aylmer]

My suburban home got 50!

Woot Wook!

:)

[Ayreonaut]

33.

18km to the nearest grocery store, apparently they didn't include the AG in Black Diamond.

There's definitely some issues:

Restaurants

0.71 km
Subway Sandwiches

0.71 km
Diamond Valley Re

0.71 km
Foothills Pizza &

0.71 km
Turner Inn Family

0.71 km
Chuckwagon Cafe

0.74 km
Granny's Pizza

0.79 km
Wayne's World

3.87 km
Marv's Classic So


For Subway, Diamond Valley Restaurant, and Foothills Pizza and Pasta they are all over 3km, probably 3.87 as they are all near Marv's.


For bars, there is no Turner Valley Bar, so I have no idea where that came from. Renegades is across the street from Cougars, anf then there's BD Bar, but it too is under 4km away.

The hardware stores category surprises me the most. We have a new Rona, not exactly a small town place.


link (http://walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=708+Calkins+Place%2C+Turner+Valley%2C+AB&go=Go)

[davee930]

right by the old children's hospital, 38 ouch.

[Bigtime]

If you click on their links about "how it works" and "how it doesn't work" they explain things like the distances are as the crow flies, transit isn't included and other things. They are apparently looking at trying to sync it up with the google maps version of walking directions to make it more accurate. I think with time and some refining the site could become a lot more accurate.

[The Jabroni]

47, car dependent.

That's so true since this is Winnipeg...

[hackunion]

92
My last condo a few blocks away was also a 92 (Bank & Somerset)

[Jimby]

I'm a 3 dressed up as a 58! Miles from any supermarkets, near Chinook Centre Calgary.

[bigcanuck]

27 primary residence in Calgary. The vacation home scores a 53. I should spend more time away from home...

Apparently Urban Venus Nail Bar is a 'bar'. Ha.

[DC83]

Wow great link!! I'm sending this to everyone hahaha

I got a 60. Somehwat walkable. That's b/c there's no full-time big chain grocery store in the downtown core are which is BADLY needed!

Thanks for finding this!

[LeftCoaster]

I got a 92 for my place in Kits. The place I grew up in on the North Shore got a whopping 33... no surprise there.

Just for comparison I checked out Shangri-La downdown and it got a 98! anyone able to beat that?

[Nicko999]

30 out of 100

Grocery Stores
Pat Loung Grocery-17.48km(that's not the closest:koko: )

Restaurants
Quiznos Sub-0.69km

Coffee Shops
Artista Café Céra-0.9km

Bars
La Résidence Rest-0.89km

Cinemas
Famous Players-5.08km

Parks
Parc-École Greendale-0.17m

Libraries
Bibliothèque de S-1.49km

Bookstores
Book Market-3.59km

Fitness
Centre Holistique-2.6km

Drug Stores
Pharmacie William-0.67km

Hardware Stores
Canaropa-11.08km

Clothing & Music
Sports Experts-2.69km

Missing A LOT of info...

[mmmatt]

55 for my house which is near-ish to downtown

70 for downtown area

[big W]

Well my place got a 67. Then I noticed the first list which was grocery stores and the 5 closest stores (all within 7 blocks of me) are missing. So no Save-On, Sobey's, Safeway, Planet Organic and that place on Jasper Ave that I never go to.

[WhipperSnapper]

I'm experiencing deja-vu ...

well, I still get 70 while my next door neighbour gets 85.

[fever]

I got an 82 up here in Central Broadway. Seems about right. I put in an address for a few blocks away near Granville and Broadway and got a 98. Pretty good for not being downtown.

[Cambridgite]

My suburban neighborhood in North Galt got a 43/100. The only saving grace is that I live a very short walk from a major commerical intersection and a 5 minute drive from Hespeler Road, a major major retail strip.

Some serious fallacies with how things are measured on walkscore...

Even though there's an A & P 200-300 metres from my house, the nearest grocery store is 2km away and I've never even heard of it! There are nearly a dozen or so full-fledge grocery stores in Cambridge, but all that is listed are the 2 Sobeys in Cambridge as well as Sobeys stores in Kitchener and Waterloo. Yet somehow it seems to list some obscure little Halal grocers (and only a small number of them), which I guarantee don't serve the kind of variety that our many Zehrs and Loblaws superstores would. Shoppers Drug Mart apparently doesn't even count as a drug store. The nearest Tim Hortons to my house is 100-200 metres while it's listed as 2.3km on walkscore. I can think of 4 Home Depots across Waterloo Region (1 in Cambridge) but apparently the nearest one is in freaking Ancaster (Hamilton)!!

All in all, I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from this gadget. Although it is a neat little tool regardless.

[craneSpotter]

I'm experiencing deja-vu ...

Yeah, this isn't the first walkscore.com thread :) I'm sure there was a thread created last summer after similar stories in other canadian newspapers.

Anyway, for giggles here is the drivescore link http://drivescore.fizber.com/

Of course like walkscore, drivescore isn't that accurate either - its says I'm only a 20 mi drive from the nearest Walgreens... but it's in Port Angeles across the strait!!

[Andy6]

88. It is unaware of numerous grocery stores, though, and says that the nearest restaurant is 0.04 km away when 0.004 would be more accurate.

[dennis]

A friend of mine lives in the condo's behind Portage Place in Winnipeg. He scored an 83.

My place scored a 35 in the suburbs of Winnipeg.

Surprisingly this site keeps relatively up to date on new places that open up in the neighborhood. A few places are missing namely a Superstore, only a few hundred metres from my home and a few corner stores.

[flar]

This again? It's so inaccurate it's not even funny. For my address every single category listed except restaurant was way off. So I got only a walk score of 33 despite having everything on the list (except a cinema) less than a 10 minute walk from my place. It thought the closest library was Burlington Public library, but I walk to the Dundas library weekly. It thought the nearest grocery store was a Sobey's in Ancaster. There is an A&P right down the street that I walk to all the time.

[Rob D]

Former condo in Calgary Beltline - walk score of 85 (very walkable)
Condo in Vancouver - walk score of 85 (go one block north score jumps to 90, 2 blocks north score of 92).

[Denscity]

Vancouver home 85
Castlegar home 58
Shangri la Vancouver got a 98 and my home is only 3 blocks away. :shrug:

[Rusty van Reddick]

right by the old children's hospital, 38 ouch.

Interesting- former condo at 17A and 22nd Ave in Bankview scores a 52 and my current home near 14A and 19 Ave scores a 73- so you get a pretty huge change from one end of Bankview (though I guess you're more in Richmond/Knob Hill) to the other.

[DAVEinEDMONTON]

My house just east of 170th street in between Mayfield Common (.35 k) and West Edmonton Mall (.96 k) rates a 60 of 100...WEM only shows up about 12 times...I guess the other 788 shops and services did not count in the rankings which makes this walkability rating a bit bogus...

[MTLskyline]

My suburban home on the South Shore of Montreal scores
37/100 - Car Dependent

Although its missing A LOT

[401_King]

87 what what

[S_B_Russell]

ERRR... I think this walkability site is a bit off. It has my place in Edmonton being more walkable than my place in Geneva. In fact, it says I'm car dependent in Geneva (it looks like it is missing a ton of businesses in my Euro 'hood), which is crazy since I walk everywhere, while in E-Town I have to use my car far more often than not.

[vid]

My downtown apartment got 63. My old house out by the highway and the mall got 59. I call bullshit. Jumbo Gardens is about as walkable a Milton. :rolleyes:

[salvius]

72 - West End of Toronto, 3 min from subway, right on the retail strip. Seems very low.

[drew]

My house in Wolseley Winnipeg scored a 60.

The place where I work in downtown scored a 72.

The funny thing about the scoring is that I walk to work... whatever, the list it generated missed a ton of stuff within a 3-block radius of our house.

[circle33]

75, which seems about right..

Last time we did this I was in the 40s. I guess they updated their database.

[swilley]

53. Way off, considering I live about 1km from downtown.

[Deepstar]

My first apartment on 6th ave downtown got an 87, while my last place in Sunnyside got a 75...even though my last place down in the Kensington area was far, far more walkable imo, but there's no accounting for the system

My current address in Mount Pleasant gets a 50.

[Deepstar]

My home in north-central Edmonton scored a 48. This seems more accurate than other walkability calculators that usually miss some ammenities. Not taken into account with this calculator is that I am a three block walk to an LRT station, which should drive the number a lot higher.

My recently sold condo on 15th ave & 11th st in Calgary scores an 85, which is what I'd expect from what I'd consider to be the most walkable neighborhood in Calgary.

My old apartment in Nelson BC got an astounding 97 out of 100! It was indeed a walkers' paradise

My old, old house halfway up Silver Star in Vernon scored a whopping 3 out of 100. No suprise there as the nearest store was 15 kms away


That and Kensington area are the most walkable, but the addresses right downtown are getting higher scores, even though imo, they aren't as walkable.

[KrisYYC]

My current address (Elbow Dr) is 45- car dependent. Meh.

[itom 987]

I'm an Edmontonian living in Inglewood near the Charles Camsell Hospital.
Walk Score: 63 out of 100.

Yay! Just what I was looking for when I was buying a house.

[harls]

47 for me.

I tried my work address too... 87. I should live in my office.

[O-Town Hockey]

My current apartment scores a 35 and I couldn't agree more. It's only a 5 minute drive to downtown Ottawa, but so unwalkable that it's not funny. The only saving grace is that the Transitway (BRT) is 300 feet from my door. My new condo currently under construction downtown scores an 88. Let's see anyone beat that for Most Improved Residence award :notacrook: (in terms of this walking scale).

[Distill3d]

wow. so, my area got an 82.

[wild wild west]

My suburban Calgary house got a 43; however, I note they missed quite a few amenities.

[entheosfog]

I live about 4 blocks off Commercial Drive in Van and I got an 87. I had to add a few locations of things they were missing, like supermarkets and hardware stores that are located on The Drive, that weren't on the list...
I typed in an apartment address that's located right on the Drive just parallel to my digs and it got a 98. Wonder what it would take to bump it up to 100??

Those of us that walk to work should get some extra points, hey? :rolleyes:

[Architype]

I'm a little further from Commercial Drive; so 63 for where I live in East Vancouver, 92 at my old Westend address, and only 38 for my former 60's suburb address in St. John's NL.

[Wishblade]

current address: Walk Score: 27 out of 100 — Car-Dependent

address in 2 weeks: Walk Score: 63 out of 100 — Somewhat Walkable

both areas are in suburban Halifax, but one is just located near a commercial district, and the other in a big subdivision.

Im movin' on up! :D

[Ayreonaut]

How the hell did I get in the 30s? There's only two bars (one called Cougars, and another where all the cougars hang out...I don't go there, it's scary), three restaurants, one convenience store, and one liquor store within 4km of my place.

Though as I type this I realize that many of the places in Black Diamond (~4km away) are marked as Turner Valley (~0.7km).

[alps]

Here in Boulder: 66/100
Home in Halifax: 77/100

Wasn't incredibly accurate, though.