What's your neighborhood's walk score? Whether you are looking to move or curious what's around to walk to, check out http://www.walkscore.com/.The tool calculates how many stores, schools, parks, etc. are within walking distance to whatever address you enter. It does not, however, take into consideration the safety of the walk, such as sidewalks.
Speaking of which, I've been reading with great interest the controversy of reducing bus service to Inglewood Junior High students in some neighborhoods due to new sidewalks. My neighborhood, in particular, is affected.
Many parents I've talked to are simply driving their 12-14 year olds to school rather then let them walk alone over a mile and a half each way. Kids in my neighborhood have to either meander through residential neighborhoods and a walking path or try to maneuver down 228th. During the sunny autumn and spring days, it may be fun, but as the mornings get darker and wetter, this is ridiculous to ask our students to walk 30-40 minutes in the rain and dark to get to school.
Oh, I know, I've heard it all...when we were young, we had to walk barefoot, up hill, in the snow and on rusty nails ten miles to get an education. Actually, I remember that my high school pegged me as a walker because I lived just under two miles from the school. It was about a 45 minute walk and not too attractive during a New England winter. I opted to walk .6 miles to a bus stop in the other direction. It was still scary in the dark mornings and I got drenched when it rained. We'd beg the bus driver to add a stop on the way home as she cruised past our street--sometimes she obliged.
So, the result of the decision is more cars dropping off kids--not something we want in this era of trying to reduce our carbon emissions. I hope the school district reinstates the busses to these neighborhoods or comes up with some sort of compromise? Perhaps the district can offer bus service only during the really rainy dark season--say, November to March. Or maybe parents can subsidize the bus--not ideal, I know, but it may be worth it to some on those cold, rainy, dark days coming up.
Walking in the cold and rain is not that huge of a deal. Really, I'm not that big of a whimp. But, keeping our students safe and healthy is a big deal.
2 comments:
My walk score is just 20 so as you see my present neighborhood is not very walkable. This service can be especially useful for those who are going to buy a house cause it can help to estimate a particular location. But how often do we walk nowadays? I ve found one more service called drive score at http://drivescore.fizber.com/ With it one can see how close establishments are by car. Homes are often located in an area where restaurants, libraries, grocery stores, hospitals and other businesses are easier to get to by car than on foot.
I believe that walk score is cool, but nowadays more and more people prefer to drive cars. Homes are often located in an area where some establishments are easier to get to by car than on foot. I've recently found a type of service on drivescore which is called Drive Score. It shows a map of what establishments are in your neighborhood and calculates a Drive Score based on the number of places within a convenient driving distance. It doesn’t mean that drive score is better than walk score – they are equal and both necessary in the modern world!
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