How Walkable is Your Neighborhood?

Walkscore.com cites Chicago as the fourth most walkable city in the United States.  While I totally appreciate the nod to my adopted hometown, as well as the fact that just about everything on the website encourages more walking and pedestrian friendly communities, I do have to quibble with some of walkscore’s methodology when it comes to ranking neighborhoods.  The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, or CLOCC, has just released a Neighborhood Walkability Assessment Tool that responds to all my concerns and more.  Once you access the tool, you just pick an intersection in Chicago to start at and answer the survey questions as you walk around your neighborhood.  Best of all, once you identify any barriers to walking you encounter, the tool suggests both the necessary solutions AND who (311, your alderman) you can contact to get things fixed.  The website even has sample letters you can use to start your advocacy for a more walkable Chicago.  Cheers to CLOCC for this great contribution to walking in our neighborhoods.