Walking L.A. (the score)

Zach Behrens at LAist is into walking L.A. -- and has been tracking people who share his love. He found an interesting website, walkscore.com, that "calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. to help people find walkable places to live. Pretty awesome, right?" Zach then punched in one of his walks:

I've always prided myself on my part of Sherman Oaks and its walkability. Within a 10-minute walk radius I can walk to two bars, four restaurant bars (including Casa Vega!), Starbucks and two other coffee shops, plenty of restaurants (Thai, Lebanese, Mexican, pizza, Chicago hot dogs, Italian, etc.), a Metro Rapid stop (plus two other Ventura Boulevard bus lines and the Van Nuys/Studio City DASH), a theater, a comedy theater, dry cleaners, a yoga studio and random amenities such as the Psychic Eye Book Store. So what is my walk score? 66.

Comments

[Kate]

I finally got it to work and with my neighborhood, got a score of 65. Well, I can roll out of bed and get a coffee if I want to and I have no problem whatsoever with walking nearly a mile to a grocery store (helps me out as I sit at a desk all week long) and while my walk to the shops isn't scenic, it's not painful...unless it gets hot out.

[m]

Even if you do walk instead of driving around in a place with a high score, especially until all of the planned housing project construction is complete, things suck. Construction brings it own problems. Pasadena is touted as being a great place to walk around, yet on my daily walks through Pasadena I encounter sidewalks that have been covered in nails, wood, screws and other construction debris, sidewalks that pedestrians can no longer use because they are being reserved for construction security buildings (right across from Gold Line Del Mar station) or because they are just completely blocked off for construction (around the civic center), crosswalks with buttons that can't be accessed because of the construction, sidewalks that have been completely ripped up, crazy lane closures that drivers can't figure out and that cause drivers to not be able to see pedestrians crossing the street until the cars are almost running the people over, sidewalks that are suddenly blocked off with no warning and no way to get to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street without backtracking a few blocks and clouds of dust and exhaust that construction creates that can't be avoided. That is all of course in addition to the normal pedestrian problems like air pollution, lack of trees/shade, crosswalks with buttons that are not responsive to being pressed and force pedestians to wait for an entire light cycle to cross, car drivers that don't pay attention when pulling in and out of driveways or when people are crossing and the car drivers that honk at or almost run over pedestrians when the pedestrians are legally crossing the street.

[Shelley]

I love to walk but it's hard in LA, despite my persistence. Aside from the hot weather and extremely long city blocks, what really gets me is the disdain and sometimes even hatred one gets from drivers of cars. There seems to be the feeling among many of them that you are scum if you are walking--I have been bumped by an SUV at a crosswalk for crossing in the middle of the "walk" signal, which I have every right to do. Drivers routinely seem to "dare" me--that is, to race to get ahead of me even though I have the right of way when crossing a street. I am now vacationing in Berkeley and I love the pedestrian laws here--there are signs all over the place that say if drivers don't respect pedestrians' right of way they will be fined at least $104. In LA, especially in the city itself, it seems like the SUV drivers become monsters once behind the wheel and want to use their size to hassle and intimidate pedestrians. My theory is that many wealthy angelenos, especially those from the suburbs, think any pedestrian must be a lower form of humanity (poor people who can't afford a huge SUV) and so they disrespect their rights. That and the incessant helicopters are the two things that make me wonder whether I can keep living in LA, although I love the diversity and the culture.

[Kate]

I'd love to try this but I keep getting some JavaScript error message.

[Greg Kay]

How bitchin'! I want skateboard and rustbucket/basket bike options.

[unico]

i scored an 81!!!! my old house a 78!!!! and thats not taking into account that many other spots were missed, including the bank, the post office, and the PD. all within walking distance. im glad the cleaners are right round the corner. i walk all over the place. except that late a night i limit it somewhat. they def. dont factor that do they? crime affects walkability alot!!! o and plenty of bus lines. i love my LA adjacent life.

[m]

While a cool idea, I think the "walkability" score needs a little work. It would be much more useful if you could actually customize what is included in your score. The Pacifica Radio Archive and the Polish Music Reference center are 2 of the closer libraries to me, but wouldn't quite get me the typical "library" information/resource I am looking for. Additionally knowing that things like the post office, pet stores, vetranarian, doctors/dentist/optometrist and public transportation stations nearby are way more useful to me than knowing there is a dry cleaner, day care or movie theater nearby.

[Chris Bucka]

So how do you tally the score, Zach? I used to be right in the thick of it in Sherman Oaks, too, just 2 blocks south of the Galleria. I'm in a much less walkable Playa Del Rey, now, but am not far at all from the highly walkable Venice/Main St. Santa Monica area. I'd definitely like to help you score different neighborhoods if you're looking to survey the whole city.

[Bill]

I love Sherman Oaks and visit often. Starbucks is OK, but you must try The Coffee Roaster at 13567 VTA Blvd. Great people and super coffee.