Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Increase My Walk Score?
Add or Remove Places From the Walk Score Map
How Can I Add Transit Data For My City?
Walk Score Algorithm
2009 Transportation Bill
America's Most Walkable Neighborhood
How Can I Increase My Walk Score?
First, read about the petition to Congress to provide more funding for walking, biking, and public transit. The Transportation Bill is coming up for renewal in 2009—an opportunity that only comes along once a decade. Read more.
Next, help your city or town build complete streets that are designed for everyone using them—whether traveling by car, bicycle, bus, or foot. Learn more about the Complete the Streets Movement
Add or Remove Places From the Walk Score Map
Your map isn't showing my favorite coffee shop! How do I add a place to the map? To add a place to the map, type your address into Walk Score and click the "Something Missing" link above the left-hand column. Then follow the instructions to add your place to Google Maps. Once Google accepts your new listing (usually after a few minutes), your new place will appear on Walk Score and we will update your score.
How do I remove a place from the map?
- Click the icon for the place to remove on the Walk Score Map
- Click the name of the place in the balloon that appears
- Click the "Edit" link on the Google Maps page
- Click "Remove Place" and follow Google's directions
Note: You can also search for the place directly on Google Maps to remove it.
We will adjust your Walk Score once Google accepts your change.
Who reviews these changes? What if someone adds a bogus place to the map? Google's automated spam filter reviews all of the places people add or remove from the map. If the change looks suspicious, Google has a panel of human moderators that review the proposed change. Go humans!
How Can I Add Transit Data For My City?
We've put together a page with instructions on how to request a transit feed from your city.
Walk Score Algorithm
I live near a beautiful waterfall filled with exotic birds—why did you call my house unwalkable? Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty it is to walk in your neighborhood.
Walk Score thinks a 7-Eleven near my house is a grocery store. Have you ever tried to buy produce at a 7-Eleven? Our query for "grocery store" near a given address currently shows convenience stores as well as grocery stores. Assuming we can establish fair criteria to filter out convenience stores, we hope to do this in the near future.
Why do you count fast food chains as restaurants? Similar to the question above. What should count as a restaurant? Does Subway count as fast food? What about an unhealthy burger joint that is locally owned? We'd love to hear your feedback on this issue.
Does Walk Score have an urban bias? We designed our algorithm to measure walkability in both small towns and big cities. There are lots of small towns that have spots with a Walk Score of 100. Like this spot in Middlebury, Vermont or this one in Juneau, Alaska (to name just two).
2009 Transportation Bill
Why are you collecting signatures for the 2009 Transportation Bill? We believe it's in America's best interest to have a higher Walk Score. With global warming, $4 a gallon gas, and an obesity epidemic, now is the time to tell Congress to support more walkable neighborhoods.Why do you ask me for my ZIP code? Delivering signatures to Congress is more powerful when they know that you live in their district.
America's Most Walkable Neighborhoods
Why is my neighborhood missing? Our list of neighborhoods comes directly from the real estate company Zillow. If your neighborhood is missing or you see another error, please let us know.
Why is my city missing? At this time, we are only ranking the largest 40 cities in the U.S. We hope to expand our rankings in the future. If you are a big time philanthropist, mayor, city council member, real estate developer, or otherwise have access to a well-endowed checkbook to help us expand our geographic coverage, please contact us.
How the heck do your rankings work? Here's the short answer and here's the long answer.
How does the boundary of my neighborhood affect its Walk Score? A neighborhood with a reputation for being "very walkable" may have a lower Walk Score than you expect if it also includes unwalkable areas. A neighborhood that only includes walkable areas will have a higher Walk Score than another neighborhood that also includes less walkable areas.
Where do you get your data? You can read about our various data sources in on our methodology page.
Why are parks red (unwalkable)? Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty it is to walk in a park. If a park is red on the Walk Score map, it means it would be hard to live in that park without a car.
Why did you make these neighborhood rankings? We believe walkable communities provide key solutions to climate change, better health, and more vibrant neighborhoods. Our goal is to help people find more walkable places to live. Neighborhood rankings and the accompanying maps make it easy to see how walkability varies with location.
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