Thanks to the developers at Diverse Solutions, you can now search for Phoenix homes right here on the Phoenix Real Estate Guy blog by “walk score”.
What is a Walk Score?
Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle””not how pretty the area is for walking.
Like any algorithm, it’s not perfect. It doesn’t, for example, take into consideration location to public transportation. So let’s say you purchase a home near a Light Rail stop. While this could greatly decrease your need to use a car to get around, the walk score won’t be impacted.
It also doesn’t consider that it can be upwards of 900 degrees here in the summer, which makes walking from your front door to the driveway almost unbearable.
But still, it’s a pretty cool way to get a quick idea of what sort of amenities are within walking (or biking) distance of a home you are considering. If you decide walking is an option for you, consider reading this article explaining how to avoid pedestrian accidents and what to do in case of one occurs.
So how do I use it?
It’s mind-numbingly simple. Just go to the Phoenix Home Search page. At the bottom of the search choices, you’ll see the option for Walk Score. (just like in the graphic at the top of this post). Click it and set a score to search by. You can also of course select any other search criteria you like ”“ city, price, size, beds, baths, etc.
When you display your search results, you’ll see a little icon/link at the top right. Click that and you get all sorts of cool info about nearby stuff. Like this:
You can drill down into more goodness by clicking the little brown arrows
next to each item in the Walk Score summary.
Phoenix isn’t as walkable a city as say San Francisco or New York City, but there are some areas with very high walk scores (typically in the downtown Phoenix area. Parts of Tempe and Mesa are also very walkable).
So give it a whirl. If nothing else, it’s additional data at your fingertips. And additional data in a home search is a good thing.
What others are saying:
Geek Estate Blog
Real Central VA
Diverse Solutions
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
This is the first time I have heard of this system. I think it is incredible and very useful. In an economy where we are trying to save where we can, this helps you decide what is right at your fingertips. Thank you for the article and I will be using this system in the future for my clients.
Most of my clients are all about buying a home within walking distance of shops, grocery stores, coffee shops, the library, the bus stop, etc. In the last couple of years I've helped a lot of people downsize from large, harder to maintain lots and homes to smaller home with one car garages within walking distance of local amenities. I wonder how hard it would be to integrate this functionality on my website? Do I have to have a Diverse Solutions website or is the code portable? I absolutely love this concept and think it would be a great tool to add to my site.
Madison – the functionality is built into the Diverse Solutions IDX product. I *think* there is a widget you can add to a site available at Walkscore.com, but it won't be integrated into a home search. From what I understand, Diverse Solutions is the only IDX provider with this functionality built in.
Thanks for the info, Jay.
Very useful. HomeQuest is just implementing this now. It will be available in less than a month.
**Portland Real Estate´s last blog post..Hair of the Dog, Pet Grooming</abbr></abbr>
I heard about this system about a year ago. It would be very useful for a city that is very walkable. Where I live you need to take the bus or drive to virtually anywhere as there is a major urban sprawl except in the Downtown core.
**Halifax Real Estate´s last blog post..Halifax Home Show a Success
@Jay + Madison – Walk Score has an API and other real estate services available on their site. They would require you to make changes to your site. Diverse Solutions has integrated the Walk Score API into their IDX search, which means for their clients, they don't need to make site changes — just turn on the switch.
Mike –
Thanks for the tip! I don't think it's a stretch to say that API's are beyond the technical capability of most real estate agents. And integrating that into a third party IDX would (I assume) require the cooperation of that IDX provider. But *very* cool that you all provide an API for those savvy enough (or for their developers) to use it.
The "tile" though seems reasonably simple and would make a GREAT addition to a single property listing web site/blog. Thanks for adding to my to-do list! 😉
I think it’s very useful app, thanks for the info
The combination of Walk Score and Diverse Solutions is VERY cool. Your clients will love it! It is interesting to find some of the walkable neighborhoods all over the valley that might not be looked at as “walkable” until people actually stop to consider walking before reaching for the keys. 🙂
**Nick Bastian´s last blog post..Metro CEO talks light rail
This is a nifty little application. Time to get a little bit of excercise. Thank you for the post.
Renee Caperton
Richland Chambers Lake Real Estate
Very cool tool! I have out of state clients looking for homes within walking distance to shopping, dining, and downtown all of the time. This tool would really help them out. Thanks for sharing.
Sweet App! Thanks for sharing.
**Minnesota MLS´s last blog post..Foreclosure Video Worth Watching
Good info! I have seen this type of walk-score before and I've wondered what it really meant for a while. As a college student at ASU there are a lot of different places to walk, but when its 110 degrees, your motivation goes down a little bit… great post tho!
**Kyle Pearson´s last blog post..Making a Great Craigslist Ad (Part 3)</abbr></abbr>
Great tool. Thanks for sharing this and the tips from the comments.As we factor in a bit more “walkability” and our rail system; we do continue to move towards a more viable downtown and “inner” city. Again thanks for the info…
Thats awesome! A slam dunk winner for persons that specialize in urban homes & areas. I would assume that all pedestrian modes of transportation (like biking) would also count towards a decent walk score.
**Jenn´s last blog post..David Fenley – Louisville Office Space</abbr></abbr>
This looks like a great app to have. Hope they will improve to make it better.
**jones94´s last blog post..Pawleys Island</abbr></abbr>
I really like walkscore. Its pretty useful for home buyers. Its also nice that it promotes walkable neighborhoods. Besides the environment living in a walkable neighborhood keeps us a little more healthy.
(for some reason the submit button didnt work last time I tried to comment)
This is a great application for real estate and rental sites. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Now THAT is a really neat function to have with a home search. Thanks for sharing!
I agree; that is a great gadget! A wonderful way to show how even an older home can be "green" if you are able to walk to everything you need. Great tool, thanks for sharing!
What a great tool to share with home buyers-and with everyone being as green as possible now, that is a great tool to showcase homes that may not be as green as newer homes, but end up being "greener" because you won't need to drive anywhere!
**Margaret Safford-Metro Atlanta Real Estate´s last blog post..Does the Metro Atlanta Real Estate Market Mimic the New HGTV Shows?</abbr></abbr>
Walk Score is a great idea; I will have to look into having that added to my home search. I see that being a GREAT tool.
My VOW provider just added this as well. Really slick, especially for walkable cities like Vancouver.
**Matt Collinge´s last blog post..New Homes on the Westside of Vancouver</abbr></abbr>