With the high gasoline prices, people are looking to cut back on their driving. Making homes that are close to shopping plazas, restaurants, and community parks highly desirable for the modern day home buyer.
Urban areas offer the strongest housing market, especially since urban areas such as Studio City, Downtown LA, Toluca Lake, Sherman Oaks, Pacific Palisades, West Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Venice and Santa Monica, make it possible for residents to work and live in the city and not need a vehicle. Making the homebuyer’s ability to walk the streets a driving factor in buyer’s interest.
A prominent feature on many real estate listings nowadays is a “Walk Score.” The “Walk Sore” rates how easy it is to navigate through the neighborhood on foot. Often time’s information such as the home’s proximity to any shops or restaurants that are within walking distance is highlighted.
The types of retail establishments in the area are what make the location more appealing than suburban areas where a car is needed. Today, walk-able urban areas should feature grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants museums, libraries, offices, and various types of housing. These features help make the areas engaging and lively.
As healthy living trends become more and more popular, so does the idea of walk-able neighborhoods. Whether walking or bicycling to work or other locations, technology makes navigating through the neighborhoods a breeze. An app on a smart phones nowadays help a person find a store on an alternative route home, or to work.
When looking to purchase any sort of real estate or a new home, determine how important the walking score of the neighborhood is. Does your lifestyle suite a walk-able neighborhood better or a non-walk-able neighborhood?