Green Hands USA: America Volunteers

I have always preferred to walk rather than drive. But sometimes, it's hard to know if the area I want to talk to really is walkable. Will there be sidewalks? Will there be pedestrian crossings? Will there be enough amenities in a location to make walking there worth while?

Well, now a new online tool can help me find out if a neighborhood is really walkable or not. It's called Walk Score, and it helps you determine the true walking potential of any neighborhood.

For example, searching in the heart of my town showed me that there are nine restaurants, two coffee shops, a library, a book store, a park and five other stores with a one-mile radius in the heart of town.

Walk Score is primarily intended for use by people who are looking to move to a new area, so they can find out if it is walkable or not before they move there, but it's also great for vacations, day trips to a nearby city, or business trips to a client so you can find out the best places near their office to take them out for coffee.

Each location you search comes up with a Street Smart score. My town came out with a score of 57 out of 100, which Walk Score dubbed "Somewhat Walkable." But that's better than some.

Give Walk Score a try, then grab your reusable shopping bags and hit those sidewalks!