Latest news with #WalkScore
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Oops, We Did Redlining Again
The allure of profiting off the desirability of walkable neighborhoods might be encouraging real estate developers to perpetuate racial inequity. A recent academic paper published last month found that the variables rewarded by Walk Score disproportionally led to the Chicago census tracts with the highest share of white residents being ranked the highest. However, the real estate metric doesn't account for vehicle-pedestrian crash rates or how many residents walk rather than drive. For those of you who have never gone real estate hunting in a city or suburb, Walk Score is intended to quantify a neighborhood's walkability with a simple score between zero and 100. The score carries a lot of weight because it directly implies that it's better to live in one place is better than another. Walk Score's website even states that one point on its metric is worth $3,000 in home value, a worrying statistic with high scores correlates with how white an area is. The pair of researchers who wrote the paper argues that walkable neighborhoods should be considered more valuable, but Walk Score outvalues nearby amenities while ignoring the affordability of those amenities. Kate Lowe, an associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, told Streetsblog: "To me, what Walk Score really is a measure of is destination concentration, and destinations are tied to investment flows. And anything that measures investment flows in a landscape of structural racial inequity is going to reflect those inequities." Read more: These Are What You Wanted As First Cars (And What You Got Instead) Walk Score essentially measures how much investment was previously made into a community. This reasoning omits why low-income and Black-majority areas lack amenities. For many neighborhoods, it traces back to redlining in the 1930s when minority-majority neighborhoods were denied federally-backed mortgages. Decades later, the systemic discrimination was compounded when urban freeways were driven through many of the same neighborhoods during the construction of the Interstate Highway System. These trends aren't relegated to history books but still impact cities today. Communities of color are still fighting highway expansions because adding a lane would mean the destruction of homes and the amenities that Walk Score gives out points for. In 2022, a proposed expansion to a 3.5-mile stretch of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee slated a gas station and a Black-owned bar for demolition. With no supermarkets, grocery stores or fast-food restaurants, the gas station is the only local source of food. Unsurprisingly, the Milwaukee neighborhood has a Walk Score of 45, classed as car-dependent. The low score would likely discourage investment rather than encourage a developer to open a grocery store, which is precisely the problem with Walk Score. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Axios
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Axios
Marlins park is "very walkable," MLB rankings say. The reality is not so rosy.
It's Opening Day for the Miami Marlins, and if you're like most baseball fans, you'll be stuck in rush hour traffic trying to make the 4:10pm game. But a new report suggests the stadium is walkable enough to ditch your car — though the real-world logistics of that would make most locals dubious. Driving the news: loanDepot park ranked seventh in walkability among all Major League Baseball stadiums, according to the digital platform Walk Score. The Little Havana ballpark got an 89 out of 100 in walkability and a 57 transit score. Walk Score says the stadium is "very walkable" and only a 24-minute hike from the closest Metrorail station (Culmer.) Yes, but: Walking 24 minutes in Miami is not the same as walking 24 minutes in New York or D.C. The route has limited shade and pedestrians have to walk along busy roads and deal with our infamously awful drivers. Miamians who live away from transit corridors would still need a car or an Uber to get to nearby transit stations, like MiamiCentral, which is two miles away. How it works: Walk Score rates walkability based on pedestrian friendliness and proximity to amenities. Population density and road metrics are also considered. A score of 69 or above does not require a car and reflects how easy it is to walk to a location or use public transportation. A "walker's paradise" is a score of 90 or above. How to get there: The Metrorail has two stops about a mile from the stadium: Culmer and Civic Center.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Santa Fe ranked among other state capitals on livability
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)—State capitals aren't just for housing the state government; they're often bustling cities with great economic and cultural value. WalletHub recently looked at the capitals of every state and ranked them on their affordability, economic well-being, quality of life, education, and health care. Those four areas were evaluated through 48 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale with a score of 100 representing the most livable state capital. Santa Fe came in at No. 33 with a capital index of 49.2, an Affordability rank of no. 39, an Economic Well-Being rank of No. 20, a Quality of Education & Health rank of No. 25, and a Quality of Life rank of No. 29. WalletHub also looked at the percentage of Millenial Newcomers to the city and came in last. WalletHub ranks New Mexico worst state to raise a family Austin, TX came in at No. 1. Their Economic and Quality of Education ranks were No. 1, Affordability was at No. 7, and Quality of Life ranked No. 11. The study used data collected as of November 26, 2024, from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Council for Community and Economic Research, Chmura Economics & Analytics, ATTOM Data Solutions (RealtyTrac), TransUnion, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources & Services ADminsitration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, County Health Rankings, Walk Score, Administrative Office of the United States Courts, National Highway Traffic Safety ADminsitration, Yelp, Numbeo, United States Environmental Protection Agency, TripAdvisory, and WalletHub's own research. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
