Last week I received a call from a client who needed a home that was walking distance to the local elementary school.  It got me thinking as many Californian's rely solely on their cars for transportation and many areas are not friendly to walking.

Here's a great resource to help you determine if your neighborhoor, or the neighborhood you a considering moving to, is walkable.  Just check out walkscore.com, plug in an address and in a few seconds find out what local services and businesses are within walking distance.  The site will tell you names and distances to nearby schools, parks, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. and list the walking distance to each.  It will also give your neighborhood a "walkability" rating from 0-100.  My neighborhood scored a 51 and rated as "somewhat walkable."  For comparison, nearby cities ranked as follows:

• Rancho Santa Margarita - 57
• Mission Viejo - 49
• Lake Forest - 71
• Aliso Viejo - 58