tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post4687946620344773775..comments2023-11-22T05:26:44.399-05:00Comments on Crossing the Lines: What Makes Up Walkability Anyway?Steve Stofkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-71685091036601774312011-10-20T11:29:23.752-04:002011-10-20T11:29:23.752-04:00Another problem with Walkscore is that it doesn...Another problem with Walkscore is that it doesn't consider the quality of amenities. For example, under groceries it will consider anything from a bodega with limited hours to a full-service 24/7 supermarket. The nearest grocery store to my apartment I've been to maybe once, because of its limited selection and hours; for serious grocery shopping, I need to walk 15 minutes to the supermarket.Alonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267294744186811858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-83050913344218825682011-10-17T22:25:50.949-04:002011-10-17T22:25:50.949-04:00The basic critique of Walkscore as it stands today...The basic critique of Walkscore as it stands today is it seems to assume (a) that all buildings reasonably front close to the street and (b) all streets are crossable. Since this is empirically false--as I have demonstrated--Walkscore must be taken with a grain of salt whenever the context shows a lack of an urban street network, and discounted totally in pedestrian-prohibitive contexts (such as the post-1980 strip). In other words, its assumptions--made most assuredly for the sake of simplifying its algorithm--render it an at best limited tool.Steve Stofkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-50529500845096690882011-10-16T13:58:54.295-04:002011-10-16T13:58:54.295-04:00I really like the locational v. traversal idea, an...I really like the locational v. traversal idea, and the critique of Walkscore is dead on. Internationally, it seems to have even less usefulness. My study-abroad apartment in medieval Trastevere in Rome, one block from a full-service grocery store and two blocks from a light rail line, in the most pedestrian-friendly surroundings imaginable with dozens of cafes, restaurants, butcher shops, greengrocers, bookstores, etc., scored an 83, one point higher than the address for an apartment I used to live in along a 1920s-era auto arterial, where the sum total of walkable options (w/in 10 minutes) was a McDonalds and a Mexican restaurant, and buses had 30 minute headways. By Walkscore's methodology, at least within the USA, it seems anything under "90" is primarily auto-oriented.Charlie Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07317335121565650040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-21220002698218044952011-10-15T02:15:13.172-04:002011-10-15T02:15:13.172-04:00I WalkScored a place in Palo Alto that I stayed, a...I WalkScored a place in Palo Alto that I stayed, and got a 68. That place was completely unwalkable, typical South Bay sprawl. I plugged in an address 100 ft away, and got a 72. WalkScore is strange.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027332620204904993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3300947294999806492.post-365006768837421362011-10-13T15:47:08.496-04:002011-10-13T15:47:08.496-04:00Take a look at Walkshed.org-- it seems to be a pil...Take a look at Walkshed.org-- it seems to be a pilot attempt (for Philly and NYC) to do exactly what you are proposing.DCLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12266113761620306932noreply@blogger.com