The Coolest Site Ever: For Prospective Renters/Buyers
By Beth in Entertainment, Tech, pop culture, America, Apartment Hunting, Civilization, Coolest Site Ever on March 8 2008
While browsing for apts today and most likely crashing Craigslist’s server with the amount of times I hit the pages, I came across a most fabulous website for those of you (like my husband and I) who can’t quite off the city bug and like to live in close proximity to a Dunkin Donuts, a Store24 (or some neighborhood equivalent), and at least one cool coffee shop that isn’t either DD or Starbucks (for neighborhood character). Anyways, the search still continues but with the help of Walk Score, we’re that much closer to finding an area we might actually want to live in and that suits our cultural needs to some extent.
The site is super easy to use and utilizes Google Maps technology to map out the nearest destination points of interest. It tabulates a patent pending Walk Score* based on a scale of 1-100 that rates how desirable an area is for walking in terms of grocery stores, movie theaters, schools, libraries, bookstores, drug stores, music stores, etc. It’s particularly useful when you’re trying to sort of the cultural landscape of an area and if like my husband and I, you happen to be true aficionados of walks within a cityscape.
To test the site, I entered one of the apartments we happened to look at today to see what was within walking distance and our apt of choice at the moment rated an 86. Our other apt. contender scored an overall rating of 68. As you might have guessed, there will be more apartment searching, but with Walk Score I feel a little more giddy about the process of sorting through Craigslist ads. The fact that realtors have started to embrace this site by posting links from their ads is a good indicator of just how sticky and “viral” this sight is.
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