I just punched in my old Winnipeg address. It listed a grocery store that no longer exists and a theatre that has moved. It fails to list the fact that I had branches for all 6 major banks within 1 mile. It missed the fact that the interior strip mall has a Safeway and a Zellers and failed to point of the multiple bus stops across the street. It missed the convenience store, the post office, the liquor store, the 3 pizza places, the two tailors and the 5 places to get your hair done.

All of these were within a mile, many were within 800m! I got a 40 walk score!

I tried my most recent place in Edmonton, literally across the street from a small mall: Safeway, Drug Store / Post Office, Liquor Store, Convenience Store, multiple restaurants, gas station, dentist, medical labs… etc. The address doesn’t even come up.

Of course, I really loved the rest of your post. It’s awesome that you put your dream first and that you know what your dream is (even if you can’t have it yet). This target is so important.

Mike is also right to point out that “walkable” varies for different people. I know suburbanites who have lost the habit of walking a few blocks, while some eldery people I know can only walk 10 minutes at a time.

Although I currently walk between 6 and 15 km a day, this changes greatly in the depths of winter when I only want to dash to the nearest subway stop. It also depends on what you are doing. For mundane everyday things like groceries, I really don’t want to trudge 10 km back and forth even if I can do it.

For example I live a five minute walk from Loblaws which I consider “walkable” however I frequently see my neighbours there getting out of their cars…

Mike