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December 22, 2010
Question: How Walkable is Shaker Square?
Short Answer: VERY
Last week's Cool Cleveland®
email proclaimed that Lakewood was Ohio's most walkable city.
Here's
the link to the Cool Cleveland blog.
It shows that Lakewood's Walk Score is 69.
I'm sure that's true. But is Lakewood our city's most walkable neighborhood?
How does Shaker Square rate?
The Walk Score™ works based
on addresses. Once entered, the program uses mapping software to find the
distance to a grocery store, drug store, coffee shop, school and
more. So here are some scores: from 91 (a Walker's Paradise) to
our lowest score of 71 (Very Walkable). The average of the five
locations below is 82. That's 13 points
(19 percent) higher than Lakewood!
Look up your
own address
And take a walk around the Square
(click on "Street View")
Beyond walking, for those who work downtown the Square
has at least three big advantages.
First, the Shaker Rapid
Second, city income tax savings. Because of reciprocity
(or actually the lack of it), the tax tab for those who live
and work in Cleveland is a lot less than for those who work in
the city and live outside. (Shaker Square is not in Shaker
Heights - it's at the eastern end of
Cleveland.) We're talking here about an annual saving that could
be as much as a week's pay!
Third,
schools. For those
whose top priorities include their kids going to fine public schools,
in an arrangement that dates back to the 1920's, many places to
live near the Square are in the Shaker Heights school district.
So we propose a measure called "livability." Unlike the
ratings of a local magazine whose name shall not be mentioned,
our measure includes
important values such as diversity and community. To us, that
puts the
Square at or near the top.
See you
on the Square.
Arnie Berger, webkeeper |
