Posts tagged walk to stuff in Charlottesville

Walking – Biking – Driving Directions all-in-one

in Charlottesville on

Brilliant. Want to know which is faster – walking, biking, driving? That’s easy enough to discern using Google Maps, but in a quest for efficiency, Michael Schade at the Mobility Lab has constructed the Side-by-Side Router:

Once you pick two end-points, the four modes’ routes are drawn with different colors. It’s been surprising to see how the routes vary depending on the mode. The program also gives you the total travel time and distance for each mode.

For example: there’s a house on the market on Park Street; it’s Walk Score is 68. To get from my office to that house, I’d say that bicycling is a better choice than driving. (click to see full size) Simple. Colorful. Brilliant.

Side-by-Side Router - Compare routes for driving, biking, walking, and transit

This is a fantastic research tool for homebuyers, sellers and folks moving to the Charlottesville area … keep in mind that the directions are likely mostly right as are the business listings … things change, and the best way to know if a route if truly walkable or bikeable is to walk or bike the routes you’d be doing.

(it’d be supercool if I could embed this map. 🙂 )

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Walkable Neighborhoods Have Happier Residents

in Charlottesville General Real Estate Transportation on

Yeah, the info graphic below is for/from California, but the data points are universal.

Walkability = happiness.

And, because images aren’t searchable, the three points:

– Lose Weight! The average resident of a walkable neighborhood weighs 6 to 10 pounds less than someone who lives in a car-dependent neighborhood .

– Save Money! Transportation is the second largest expense for American households, costing more than food, clothing, and health care.

– Connect! Studies show that for every 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10%

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Walkability = Happiness – And why Does this Matter to Charlottesville Real Estate?

in General Real Estate on

The authors found that individuals in more walkable neighborhoods tended to have higher levels of trust and community involvement, whether that was working on a community project, attending a club meeting, volunteering, or simply entertaining friends at home. … Walkability may also enhance social capital by providing the means and locations for individuals to connect, share information, and interact with those that they might not otherwise meet. The links we found between walkability and measures of social capital in this study provide further evidence for the consideration of social capital as a key component of quality of life.” … Because this here is a Charlottesville real estate blog, I might as well include a few links to search for homes with high WalkScores: – Walkable homes in Charlottesville and Albemarle – Most walkable homes for sale in the City of Charlottesville – Walkable homes in Crozet H/T @JessicaChapin

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Woolen Mills – Streets are Made For Walking

in Charlottesville sideblog on

These Streets are Made for Walkin’ (not fire engines) .

I talked about Woolen Mills a couple years ago in my Charlottesville Neighborhoods series:

Topography: Gently rolling hills, sidewalks in many places

Housing Prices: Unfortunately, there is no good way to search for homes for sale in the Woolen Mills area, other than looking at the results and knowing which streets are within the Woolen Mills ‘hood. Generally, prices range from $225k to $550k.¨

House Styles: More varied than most neighborhoods. Bungalow to Cottage to traditional single family to the occasional townhouse to a small new “green development.¨

Proximity to Green Spaces: Good. Meade Park is quite close¨

Broadband Internet Coverage: 100%¨

Schools: Check out the City’s interactive (school district) map, generally Woolen Mills kids will go to the Burnley-Moran elementary school.

 

Update – check out the Blair-Seay house, and the accompanying history.

 

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