- Find a Real Estate Professional
- Realtors®
- Mortgage Lenders
- Home Improvement Pros
- Other Real Estate Services
- Review an Agent, Lender or Pro
- Marketing on Zillow
- Real Estate Agent Advertising
- Join the Professional Directory
- Popular
- Real Estate Market Reports
- More
Answers (8)
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Sharon -
It doesn't do any good to flag a home regarding a Walk-score; as already posted, walk-scores come from walk-score.com and there is no manual changing the system. It has nothing to do with Zillow personnel.
If a person wants to change their walkscore, they need to go to the walkscore website and locate the businesses and other amenities within 1.5 miles that are missing, and if they want a perfect walk score, those items need to be within 1/4 mile.
Those are the rules that walkscore.com set up, and I already posted that. You could read the white-paper referenced.
Is there anything that we can do to encourage Realtors® to read?
It doesn't do any good to flag a home regarding a Walk-score; as already posted, walk-scores come from walk-score.com and there is no manual changing the system. It has nothing to do with Zillow personnel.
If a person wants to change their walkscore, they need to go to the walkscore website and locate the businesses and other amenities within 1.5 miles that are missing, and if they want a perfect walk score, those items need to be within 1/4 mile.
Those are the rules that walkscore.com set up, and I already posted that. You could read the white-paper referenced.
Is there anything that we can do to encourage Realtors® to read?
- Sharon Lewis, "Sharon Lewis"
- Contributions:3923
Flag the home and request that someone take another look at it. Montclair is such a great location!
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Personally, I would have moved shopping up and restaurants down. And would have divided shopping into clothes, shoes, office supplies, building supplies, household products, linens, pharmaceuticals, sporting goods, photography, electronics, flowers/garden supplies.
Second, I would have removed coffee all together. If coffee is important, they can get it at a restaurant.
Third, I would have added laundromats/ dry cleaners. And would have added Hair dressers...
Second, I would have removed coffee all together. If coffee is important, they can get it at a restaurant.
Third, I would have added laundromats/ dry cleaners. And would have added Hair dressers...
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
The "white paper" on the issue.
"We use a polynomial distance decay function that gives full score or near full score for amenities that are within .25 miles of the origin. After this, scores decrease with distance smoothly. At a distance of one mile, amenities receive only about 12% of the score they would have had if they were right next to the origin. After one mile, scores decrease less quickly with greater distance, until they reach 1.5 miles, after which they do not count towards the final score."
The following categories, counts and weights are used:
amenity_weights = {
"grocery": [3],
"restaurants": [.75, .45, .25, .25, .225, .225, .225, .225, .2, .2],
"shopping": [.5, .45, .4, .35, .3],
"coffee": [1.25, .75],
"banks": [1],
"parks": [1],
"schools": [1],
"books": [1],
"entertainment": [1],
}
(Patent pending, thus don't try to steal their method).
(Those with multiple weightings shown are required to have "choice diversity", thus the weightings are from closest to furthest for the specific count given).
"We use a polynomial distance decay function that gives full score or near full score for amenities that are within .25 miles of the origin. After this, scores decrease with distance smoothly. At a distance of one mile, amenities receive only about 12% of the score they would have had if they were right next to the origin. After one mile, scores decrease less quickly with greater distance, until they reach 1.5 miles, after which they do not count towards the final score."
The following categories, counts and weights are used:
amenity_weights = {
"grocery": [3],
"restaurants": [.75, .45, .25, .25, .225, .225, .225, .225, .2, .2],
"shopping": [.5, .45, .4, .35, .3],
"coffee": [1.25, .75],
"banks": [1],
"parks": [1],
"schools": [1],
"books": [1],
"entertainment": [1],
}
(Patent pending, thus don't try to steal their method).
(Those with multiple weightings shown are required to have "choice diversity", thus the weightings are from closest to furthest for the specific count given).
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25139
The way I understand it walkscore is based on distance so sometimes you can see a drop like you are describing for houses just a few blocks apart. The walk score website might have more specific information about it. I really like having the walkscore on the home page.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
If you click on the walkscore icon on your home details page, it takes you to walkscore.com with the appropriate property referenced. You can then look at the details of which items of each type were what distance away. Obviously, the number is not just an "average", but any change in distance to stores or banks or restaurants or parks or schools or entertainment, or cleaning, or... makes a difference.
Walkable to them means you can do everything you would normally do without having a car and without taking transit.
By the way, the categories are not weighted equally... Groceries are 20 points out of 100. Restaurants are 20 points out of 100. Banks are only 6 points out of 100. Schools are only 6 points out of 100. Shopping is 15 points out of 100. Parks are 6 points out of 100. Coffee is 15 points out of 100. Books are 6 points out of 100.
And presently it is by map distance (diagonally) but they are changing to "street smart" by actual walking distance.
Walkable to them means you can do everything you would normally do without having a car and without taking transit.
By the way, the categories are not weighted equally... Groceries are 20 points out of 100. Restaurants are 20 points out of 100. Banks are only 6 points out of 100. Schools are only 6 points out of 100. Shopping is 15 points out of 100. Parks are 6 points out of 100. Coffee is 15 points out of 100. Books are 6 points out of 100.
And presently it is by map distance (diagonally) but they are changing to "street smart" by actual walking distance.
- wetdawgs
- Contributions:26854
You might wish to ask the site that generates walkscores (www.walkscore.com), as Zillow doesn't own that site nor controls their information.
- James R. Matarazzo Jr.,, "James R Matarazzo Jr"
- Contributions:345
My professional opinion would be, a situation similar to FHA loan comparables, when a property is over 1/2 a mile from a subject point, the house can not be utilized as a comparable. With a walk score, the determination could be made by a house's distance from a focal point, like 1/4 of a mile or 1/2 mile, both having different walk scores, the house could be given a significant and different walk score because it's distance is just over one of the signifcant walk score changes. I hope this is helpful. Best, James R. Matarazzo Jr., Broker-Salepserson, Real Living John Young Realtors.
Why is the walk score of my house a 57, and the walk score of a house around the corner a 74?
Stating a discriminatory preference in an advertisement for housing is illegal. If you think this content is discriminatory or otherwise inappropriate and feel it should be removed from Zillow, please let us know by completing the information above.
We will review this content. Thanks for helping make the site more useful to everyone. To learn more, read Zillow's Good Neighbor Policy.