September 30, 2011

Apartment hunters who are looking for a short and walkable commute to work can find answers fast with a new online tool. Walk Score Apartment Search allows users to search for apartments based on commute time. Users simply type in their work or school address and can then see apartment listings that are automatically sorted by estimated commute time. The Walk Score tool also provides links MyNewPlace and ForRent.com to search their national databases for rentals with easy commutes.

Walk Score says commuters waste 4.2 billion hours and 2.8 billion gallons of gas in traffic per year. Research also shows that for every ten minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, the time spent in community activities falls by 10 percent.  WalkScore.com already helps people figure out the most walkable properties in cities across the country. The web tool assigns properties a score from 1 to 100 based on how close homes are to amenities like restaurants and theaters. A score of 90-100, for example, is considered a ‘Walker’s Paradise’. A score between 0 and 24 means that almost every errand from the property requires a car.

According to Walk Score, a walkable neighborhood has some type of center like a main street or public space. It also has enough people for businesses to flourish and public transit to run frequently. A walkable neighborhood also has streets designed for bike riders, walkers and vehicles as well as buildings that are close to the street with parking in back. The Walk Score website also just added commute costs to its Commute Map to help users understand how much their commute will cost in terms of time and money.