Economist's Commentary: September 30, 2008

Alternate Forms of Transportation

By Danielle Hale, Research Economist

As a result of gas and oil prices, transportation is frequently in the news lately. Even though gas prices have come down from their four-dollar-plus heights in June and July, September's prices are still more than 30% greater than prices one year ago. In fact, since October 2007, gas prices each month have been almost 20% or more higher than prices one year before. Unsurprisingly, drivers have responded. According to the Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled have declined every month on a year over year basis from November 2007 through July 2008-the most recent data that are available The persistence of this decline is matched or exceeded by only one other period since 1970. From December 1973 to October 1974, there were eleven months of declining vehicle miles traveled.

But news coverage and consumer response is not limited to cars, buses, and miles traveled. The oldest form of transportation - walking - is gaining some attention. This attention has brought a lot of traffic to walkscore.com, a project of the Front Seat software company that was launched in July 2007. The creators of the site developed an interesting algorithm for determining the "walkability" of an address. The algorithm accounts for the proximity of nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. in determining the walkability of an address and condenses all of this information into a single Walk Score, a number that ranges from 0 (car dependent) to 100 (a walker's paradise). The algorithm that produces the Walk Score does not account for public transit, street width and block length, street design, safety, obstacles (such as freeways or bodies of water), and weather-so the score is not and does not claim to be a substitute for a stroll around the block. Still, weighing the many factors that a Walk Score does account for in a single number can be useful tool for home buyers, home sellers, and Realtors® comparing many homes in a simple and objective way before digging deeper.

How to Use a Walk Score

Walk Score has a convenient way for home sellers and Realtors® to promote the walkability of their properties. The Walk Score Real Estate Tile lets visitors to your website compare the walkability of properties and see a map of what's nearby. There is also a Walk Score widget for your blog.

Other Benefits of Walking

Walking has been in the news for another reason, too. A study in Salt Lake City published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that individuals living in older, more walkable neighborhoods weighed less and had fewer rates of obesity. These findings are consistent with other studies that were conducted and published in the Journal of the American Planning Association in winter 2006 that found lower body mass indexes for individuals who lived in more walkable areas.

Further, walkable areas tend to have higher home prices. A quick review of city pairs in comparable areas of the country shows that in each instance, (Chicago, Milwaukee; Seattle, Portland; and Washington, D.C., Baltimore) the more walkable city had higher home prices.

Admittedly, there are other factors that are at play here. More research would be needed to determine how much of an influence walkability has on a home's price relative to other factors, but the health benefits and potential savings from cutting down a commute are pretty valuable.

It's Not a Walker's World Here!

Even if you are from an area that is not known for its walkability, it may still be useful to engage potential home buyers and sellers in a conversation about the walkability of a home. Even a city like Jacksonville, FL which scores only a 36 as a whole (car-dependent) has pockets of walkable neighborhoods, and not just in the city center. Find out how your address and city compare: http://walkscore.com/. You can also check out other resources on walking such as the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. For a checklist that you can use in your stroll around the block test, check out the Partnership for a Walkable America's website. For commercial Realtors® and Brokers, check out the Center for Disease Control's website on worksite walkability.

This is one in a series of commentaries by the Research staff of the National Association of REALTORS®. Read more commentaries >

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