You often find biking and walking advocacy tied together. One important reason for this seems to be the way government funds are allocated lumps these together.

And while biking and walking don't have exactly the same issues they are related. For example using a bicycle for errands is definitely facilitated by having your stops closer to home. That is why I find the Walk Score interesting as a cyclist.

The walk score is calculated based on distances from various amenities like groceries, shopping, restaurants, schools, coffee shops, bars, parks, entertainment, and banking. It will also give a transit score. Here is an example about halfway along my normal commute.



The web site offers ranking of cities but more interesting to me was being able to enter a specific address and see the walking score. It even gives a comparison to the rest of the city.

You can also use a free iPhone app to check the walk score in various places your travels may take you,

Give it a try. If you are really intrigued the site has lots of details on the algorithm and ongoing research.