What is your Walk Score?This may sound like an unusual question, something akin to the '60's “what is your sign?” But it is actually a very important question for cities and their downtowns. Walk Score is a website that measures the walkability of cities, downtowns and neighborhoods. Walk Score measures the number of typical consumer destinations within walking distance of a given location; scores range from 0 (car dependent) to 100 (walker's paradise).
The City of Carlsbad has an average Walk Score of 42 (car dependent), while Carlsbad Village has a Walk Score of 80 (very walkable). A score of 80 is good for the Village, but not as good when compared to competing cities. Downtown Oceanside rates 89; downtown Encinitas 83; downtown Vista 83; and downtown Escondido rates a 94 (walker's paradise).
Why walkability matters?
According to a study conducted by CEOs For Cities, homes located in more walkable neighborhoods, those with a mix of common daily shopping and social destinations within a short distance, command a price premium over otherwise similar homes in less walkable areas.
After controlling for other factors that are known to influence housing value, the study suggested a positive correlation between walkability and housing prices. In the typical market, an additional one-point increase in a Walk Score was associated with a $700 to $3,000 increase in home values. According to Christopher Leinberger, a Brookings Institution economist, walkable urbanism commands a housing price premium: 51 percent in the Seattle region and 150 percent in the Denver region.
According to Leinberger, we are in the midst of a demographic perfect storm. The convergence of approximately 76 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and 77 million millennials (born between 1977 and 2003) create more than 150 million Americans for whom walkability is key to where they choose to live. This convergence represents the biggest demographic event since the baby boom itself. Of the 101 million new households expected to take shape between now and 2025, fully 88 percent are projected to be childless.
Baby boomers, the so-called empty nesters, now make up one quarter of our population. According to Leinberger, freedom for this generation means living in walkable, accessible communities with convenient transit linkages, and good public services like libraries, cultural activities and health care. Sixty four percent of college-educated millennials choose where they want to live first, and only then do they look for a job. Fully 77 percent of them plan to live in America's urban cores.
How does the Village benefit?
The Village is a real downtown with a street grid and a density of housing, it's a place that has many of the characteristics of an urban neighborhood. Leinberger divides the American built environment into two categories: walkable urbanism and drivable sub-urbanism. I think there is a third category that includes Carlsbad Village: Beach Urbanism.
Beach Urbanism is the key to a vibrant, vital and economically sustainable future for Carlsbad Village. In order to attract investment from the baby boomers and millennials, the Village must build upon its Beach Urbanism foundation.
The Village must continue to improve its walkability, bikeability, and transit options. Land use decisions, transportation decisions, residential development decisions and decisions on business mix should reflect the reality that the future of the Village is in becoming a neighborhood that is Beach Urban.
The City of Carlsbad has an average Walk Score of 42 (car dependent), while Carlsbad Village has a Walk Score of 80 (very walkable). A score of 80 is good for the Village, but not as good when compared to competing cities. Downtown Oceanside rates 89; downtown Encinitas 83; downtown Vista 83; and downtown Escondido rates a 94 (walker's paradise).
Why walkability matters?
According to a study conducted by CEOs For Cities, homes located in more walkable neighborhoods, those with a mix of common daily shopping and social destinations within a short distance, command a price premium over otherwise similar homes in less walkable areas.
After controlling for other factors that are known to influence housing value, the study suggested a positive correlation between walkability and housing prices. In the typical market, an additional one-point increase in a Walk Score was associated with a $700 to $3,000 increase in home values. According to Christopher Leinberger, a Brookings Institution economist, walkable urbanism commands a housing price premium: 51 percent in the Seattle region and 150 percent in the Denver region.
According to Leinberger, we are in the midst of a demographic perfect storm. The convergence of approximately 76 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and 77 million millennials (born between 1977 and 2003) create more than 150 million Americans for whom walkability is key to where they choose to live. This convergence represents the biggest demographic event since the baby boom itself. Of the 101 million new households expected to take shape between now and 2025, fully 88 percent are projected to be childless.
Baby boomers, the so-called empty nesters, now make up one quarter of our population. According to Leinberger, freedom for this generation means living in walkable, accessible communities with convenient transit linkages, and good public services like libraries, cultural activities and health care. Sixty four percent of college-educated millennials choose where they want to live first, and only then do they look for a job. Fully 77 percent of them plan to live in America's urban cores.
How does the Village benefit?
The Village is a real downtown with a street grid and a density of housing, it's a place that has many of the characteristics of an urban neighborhood. Leinberger divides the American built environment into two categories: walkable urbanism and drivable sub-urbanism. I think there is a third category that includes Carlsbad Village: Beach Urbanism.
Beach Urbanism is the key to a vibrant, vital and economically sustainable future for Carlsbad Village. In order to attract investment from the baby boomers and millennials, the Village must build upon its Beach Urbanism foundation.
The Village must continue to improve its walkability, bikeability, and transit options. Land use decisions, transportation decisions, residential development decisions and decisions on business mix should reflect the reality that the future of the Village is in becoming a neighborhood that is Beach Urban.