Why a neighbourhood walk score is important.

Being able to walk to work and run most of your errands on foot is a feature that home buyers are demanding more and more these days as they move away from the expense and dependency of having a car in exchange for health, convenience, budget and environmental reasons.

“Walk Scores” is an incredibly handy tool that are now featured on more than 20,000 real estate sites across Canada. A Walk Score is a number between zero and 100 that measures the walkability of any address. A Walk Score awards points based on the distance from a residential property to amenities such as grocery stores, restaurants, shops and schools.

Here's how it works. If the closest amenity is within 0.4 kilometres, the maximum number of points is assigned. The number of points declines as the distance approaches 1.6 km, in which case no points are awarded.

Scores of 90 - 100 are described as a Walkers Paradise, one in which daily errands do not require a car. Scores of 70 - 89 are called Very Walkable, meaning most errands can be done on foot. Scores of 50 - 69 are deemed Somewhat Walkable with some amenities being within walking distance. Scores under 50 mean that the property is car dependent, where almost all errands will require use of a car.

In Toronto properties have an average walk score of 71. Mississauga has an average Walk Score of 59. 

For sellers, there's value in a Walk Score because for every point a neighbourhood earns on its Walk Score, typically the higher its real estate value. And first-time buyers should also be aware of their community's Walk Score, because it will affect resale values as demand for walkability increases in the future.

In fact, the Ontario Real Estate Association revealed in a recent survey that 80 per cent of home buyers between the ages of 25-35 want to work close to where they live so being able to walk to work from home is a definite desired selling feature.

So when you're looking to move to a new address, head to the walkscore.com website and find out your potential neighbourhood's Walk Score. Better yet - ask us and we can give you a detailed Walk Score report on any property in the GTA.

To helping you create remarkable real estate results,

Alex and Elaine.