1. How Walkable is the NRV?
By Jeremy Hart, NRVLiving.com and Coldwell Banker Townside, Realtors Blacksburg, VA
Reprinted from http://www.nrvliving.com/2010/03/29/walk-scores-in-the-new-river-valley/
Care to take a walk? It’d be great to see neighborhoods begin to include
walking paths and connections to existing trails in their
My wife and I just returned from a trip overseas, where we future plans, or even for local governments beginning to
walked … everywhere. We’d take the train between require things like sidewalks in their zoning requirements.
towns, but over the course of a two week period we There are health benefits, sure, but what about the social
covered a lot of ground just walking. It was nice to put aspects of community that are fostered by neighbors just
down some miles by foot, and it’s no wonder so many meeting on the street? The Italians have a word for that –
Europeans are in great shape. passeggiata – and they participate in it every single night.
But it reminded me that walking isn’t just important in Walk Scores aren’t important to everyone, I know, but I
other countries. More and more I’m having clients stress suspect we’ll see that continue to change over the next
the importance that their new home be close enough to several years. And who knows – personal flying machines
walk to points of interest. That’s why I recently started were supposed to be the future, but maybe we’ll get back
adding Walk Score statistics to every single property to a good, well-designed boot.
website I do – if it’s important to buyers I work with, it’s
probably important to other buyers, as well. Now, when Mine were made for walking.
you visit a property I have listed, you’ll see the Walk Score
for that particular home; the New River Valley isn’t terribly
walkable – the average score in Blacksburg is 52 out of 100,
and in Christiansburg it’s only 39 out of 100 – but
nevertheless it’s important to know whether things like
grocery stores, restaurants and local parks are within
walking distance.
Each website will have, in the Description, a map showing
where the home is located, and how close it is to
convenient places. This house, for instance, has a Walk
Score of 34.
Jeremy Hart is a licensed real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Townside Realtors in Blacksburg, Virginia, and founding member of NRVLiving Real Estate.
If interested, his license number is #0225077937, and he’s been a licensee in good standing of the New River Valley Association, the Virginia Association, and
the National Association of Realtors since January 2004. You can contact him at jeremy at nrvliving dot com.
Disclaimer: I’m just a real estate agent and while I’m one piece of the puzzle, don’t forget to consult your attorney, tax professional and librarian before
making a financial or real estate decision. It should be noted that the articles in this blog are solely my opinion, and likewise those who leave comments
are providing their opinions, as well. These are not the opinions of Coldwell Banker Townside Realtors, their affiliates or any employee thereof.