Here’s a new perspective to consider when booking a hotel room – walkability!
Thanks to a fabulous new website called Walk Score (http://www.walkscore.com) you can now calculate the optimal use of what they call your “zero pollution transportation machines.”
Here’s how it works: simply type in an address and the site calculates the location’s “walk score”. This number, between 1 and 100, reflects the amount of stores, restaurants, parks etc. within walking distance of that address. It also gives you a map with names and locations for these amenities. Currently this only covers destinations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. but plans are underway to expand it soon.
The folks at Walk Score point out that choosing walkable neighborhoods to visit or live in offers many levels of benefit. Obviously, the more we walk, the better we are doing for our own physical health and well-being. Also, those “zero pollution transportation machines” are a direct antidote the effects of greenhouse gases, so the environment wins. But how about the societal benefits? Walking versus driving when you travel means that you will be far more likely to meet and chat with locals, and to patronize local businesses.
Thinking this would be a great tool for travelers, I tried plugging in addresses for different hotels in a given city. Sure enough, it showed me not only which ones were in the most “walkable” locations, but also a map of that neighborhood with everything marked, so that I could show up ready to rock…er,um…walk!