Saturday, April 3, 2010

Walk This Way...

Global warming. Pollution. Climate Change. Overgrazing. Soil erosion. Ozone depletion. Habitat destruction. Thermal pollution. Urban runoff. Depletion of natural resource. And the list goes on...

It seems like these days, the Mayans' apocalyptic prediction for 2012 is closer than we think. So, what can you do, besides taking a reusable shopping bag to the market and shortening your shower time by 1 minute? You can walk (or bike), and say 'Sayonara' to your four-wheeler a brief interval.

Walkscore is an in depth, easy to use website that enables to you "find a walkable place to live." Whether you're considering moving to a new city or would just like to get some better mileage out of your Nikes, Walkscore can help you figure out what amenities are in your neighborhood and how convenient it will be to walk there. Simply by typing in your address, the site will calculate, on a scale of 1-100 just how 'walkable' your neighborhood. The criteria they use to judge the walkability factor of your hood is based on the proximity of markets, pharmacies, schools, movie theaters, bookstores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, parks, etc to your home. It's a fun site to play with because hey, you might find out about tons of businesses in your area that you had not known about before.

There are, however, some set backs to the site as I noticed when I calculated my old address in Hawaii: hills and sidewalk availability. The site mentions that there are some reasons "why it doesn't work" for some areas, such as topography, bodies of water, crime indexes, and street or sidewalk narrowness/availability.

But overall, it's an interesting site that I know I will at least consult next time I'm considering moving.

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