Latest news with #WalkScore
Axios
5 days ago
- Axios
Seattle tops U.S. walkability for sightseers
Seattle just strutted past the competition to become the most walkable city in the U.S. — at least for tourists. Why it matters: The ranking puts a little spring in our steps just as the city unveils major pedestrian upgrades, including the newly opened Overlook Walk and a car-free Pike Place Market pilot program. What they did: British shoe company FitFlop chose five popular destinations in each of 30 U.S. cities, comparing distance, elevation, steps and Walk Score to find the winners, Travel + Leisure reported last week. In Seattle, those destinations included Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Museum of Pop Culture and the Colman Dock ferry terminal, which can all be walked in a 1.4-mile loop. "In just 32 minutes, you can see all five top attractions and get about 3,360 steps in while you're at it," wrote Travel + Leisure. What we're saying: That's cute, but now try going somewhere uphill on wet cobblestone with a coffee in one hand and a stroller in the other. Reality check: It would be more accurate, some Reddit critics say, to call Seattle a highly walkable city for tourists who want to hit a few urban core highlights in one day. Seattle scores an average 74 out of 100 on Walk Score, placing it behind San Francisco, New York, Boston and Chicago. Only 44% of Emerald City residents live within walking distance of basic services, so many Seattle neighborhoods are still car-dependent and fall short of the " 15-minute city" ideal, per Walk Score, a Redfin company that promotes walkable neighborhoods. That ideal calls for groceries, schools, parks and other essentials to be reachable within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home.
Daily Mirror
07-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
'Most walkable' city in world has five attractions in 10 minutes of each other
Florence has been named the most walkable city in the world, and it's not hard to see why when you take a closer look at the five key attractions that are all within a 10-minute walk of each other Florence has been crowned the ultimate city break for its outstanding beauty and walkability, with tourists flocking to the heart of Tuscany to stroll through its historic streets. According to newly released data, what makes Florence a magnet for visitors is not only its status as regional capital but also its compact nature, with five major attractions nestled within just half a mile of one another. Earlier this year, financial pundits at Insider Monkey unveiled their list of the world's most walkable cities, drawing from sources like Tourlane and WalkScore while also considering factors such as air quality and safety levels. READ MORE: 'Life-saving' menopause product inspired by menopausal 25-year-old sells out 3 times With rave reviews for being "a city that offers Renaissance history and timeless architecture with each step", Florence's appeal lies in a historic centre that doubles as a UNESCO -listed haven, boasting such marvels as the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza del Duomo and Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore - all conveniently close for a leisurely 10-minute amble. Florence, the first European city to pave all its streets back in 1339, is a walker's paradise. With its meandering village roads and hidden nooks, you can uncover the city's treasures without hopping on a bus or tram. TripAdvisor is brimming with top-rated walking tours, including the highly recommended Florence Sunset Walking Tour with Food and Wine tasting. This three to four-hour journey delves into Florence's rich heritage, offering both culinary and cultural delights. The tour has been hailed as a "wonderful touring, eating, drinking adventure" by satisfied travellers, reports the Express. One review highlighted the picturesque riverside path along the Arno River, which flows from the lofty Apennine mountains into the heart of Florence. For those with a penchant for culture and history, the Florence in a Day tour comes highly praised. Tourists have called it "a wonderful way to see some key sites in Florence" packed with "a wealth of information" provided by knowledgeable guides. And if you're on the hunt for hidden gems, Piazza della Passera offers a tranquil alternative to the bustling Piazza Signoria. Celebrated for its "very genuine local atmosphere" by Love From Tuscany, it's an ideal spot for a leisurely break. For the best view, the terrace on top of La Rinascente department store offers a stunning view over the city's rooftops and the Duomo, serving light refreshments including coffee. Alternatively, you can visit the Santarosa gardens in the Oltrarno for a comfortable meal or cocktail outdoors. Flight deals to Florence are readily available via Skyscanner with Iberia, Vueling, or British Airways. October is by far the most affordable month to visit with prices starting at £48 from London direct to Florence.
Business Wire
03-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Redfin Reports New Listings, Pending Sales Fall As Home Prices Hit Another All-Time High
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: RDFN) — The median U.S. home-sale price hit a record high during the four weeks ending June 29, but buyers are getting a bit of cost relief as mortgage rates decline. That's according to a new report from Redfin ( the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Redfin is taking a break from full analysis this week, but please see the tables and charts below for this week's housing-market data. For Redfin economists' takes on the housing market, please visit Redfin's ' From Our Economists ' page. Leading indicators Key housing-market data U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending June 29, 2025 Redfin's national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and are based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision. Four weeks ending June 29, 2025 Year-over-year change Notes Median sale price $400,125 1.4% All-time high Median asking price $415,174 3.9% Median monthly mortgage payment $2,742 at a 6.67% mortgage rate 1.6% Lowest level in 4 months Pending sales 86,718 -3.2% Biggest decline in nearly 4 months New listings 99,921 -0.7% First decline in nearly 6 months Active listings 1,184,250 14.1% Smallest increase in over a year Months of supply 4.1 +0.8 pts. 4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller's market conditions Share of homes off market in two weeks 36.3% Down from 40% Median days on market 37 +5 days Share of homes sold above list price 28.4% Down from 32% Average sale-to-list price ratio 99.1% Down from 99.6% Expand To view the full report, including charts, please visit: About Redfin Redfin ( is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, and title insurance services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.8 billion in commissions. We serve approximately 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people. Redfin's subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and Walk Score®. For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@ To view Redfin's press center, click here.
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.
