http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010603.html

Walk Score <http://www.walkscore.com/> -- which has become North
America's most prevalent gauge of neighborhood walkability -- is going
open source <http://www.walkscore.org/>, so that anyone can see how
their rankings work and (just as importantly) suggest improvements.
This has a real potential to lead to some major breakthroughs, since it
will let academics and others add their own insights and ideas to the
Walk Score algorithm.

A newly launched website called Walkshed <http://walkshed.org/> offers a
slightly different take on walkability, by letting users choose the
amenities that are most important to them.  Want to live within walking
distance of grocery stores and transit, but don't care about bars or
clothing shops?  Walkshed lets you find the neighborhoods that match
your preferences.  And it also uses a very clever method to incorporate
barriers to walking -- rivers, rail lines, or impassable highways -- in
calculating the walking distance between two points.  The only problem
for Northwesterners is that Walkshed is only available for
Philadelphia...at least for now.

Math



Math Heinzel
Facility Manager
Land Information & Computer Graphics Facility
550 Babcock Drive, Rm B105
Madison, Wisconsin
(608) 265-8536
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