What’s a Walk Score?

The Walk Score is a tool that measures the walkability of any address using a patented system. It can provide important information in making decisions when you are buying a property and can give insight to what others could value when selling your home. It’s important to be clear that it is one tool of many that can be used to assess the value of a property to a potential buyer.
 
How does it work?
It’s easy, just input the address of the property you are buying or selling, and a score is computed by analyzing hundreds of walking routes to nearby amenities. Points are awarded based on the distance to amenities. Amenities within a 5 minute are given the most points. A location loses points the further the distance from amenities it is, and there are no points awarded to anything that takes longer than 30 minutes to get to on foot. This can be really valuable in urban centres, but not so much in more rural locations.

What amenities are included?
There are 13 categories including grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, bars, movie theatres, schools, parks, libraries, book stores, fitness centres, drug stores, hardware stores, clothing/music stores. Score details are included that represent dining & drinking, groceries, shopping, errands, parks & culture, and entertainment.
 
It’s important to mention that these scores are pieces of a much larger picture. Depending on what your clients prioritizes could affect the value of the information imparted by the Walk score.
There are also Transit & Bike scores so you can offer a fuller picture of the property you are selling or find out about a property you are interested in. You can also find a  brief description including some details about the neighbourhood.
 
Depending on the property and your clients' needs, using the information the Walk, Transit & Bike scores makes available, can provide valuable details that could help a buyer in making a more informed decision about a property they wish to purchase and can give the seller valuable information about the property they are selling.