Many home buyers today not only take into consideration the neighborhood and school in which a house is located, but also which amenities, such as stores and public transportation, are within walking distance.

• According to urban planners, changing demographics are driviing this growing trend. The baby boomer generation is approaching empty-nest retirement age, while their children are buying their first homes; neither group wants large lots in remote areas with little access to big-box stores, public transportation, and entertainment. Concerns about future oil prices also are increasing the attractiveness of walkable communities, according to planners.
• Home buyers interested in finding homes in walkable communities can use myriad web sites; one commonly used site if WalkScore.com. The site enable users to enter an address and receive a score ranging from zero to 100 (”car dependent” to “walkers paradise” indicating the walkiability of the community.
• House prices also are reflecting the new interest in walking distances. A study published by the non-profit group CEO’s for Cities found having more amenities in walking distance can boost home values.  As measured on Walk Score, alking-distance amenities raised values by as much as $3000 for each one-point increase in rankings.

Call Marilyn Dashe at Sea Coast Exclusive Properties, and she will be happy to locate the Walk Score for you for a specific property in San Diego County!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 9:17 pm and is filed under My Real Estate Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.