Energy Conscious? Score Big with Walk Score when House Hunting . . . one of the MANY interesting things I learned while completing my Eco-Broker real estate designation was about a web site, www.WalkScore.com, where you can find "walkable" places to live. With ever increasing gasoline prices, this is pretty compelling, don't you think? Well you know me, I just had to check out my current home in Gulf Breeze to find the Walk Score.

So here's what I learned about my Gulf Breeze home's "walkability.". My home has a walk score of 11 out of 100. Pretty pitiful - and shocking - when you consider I live on a bit of a hill overlooking the beautiful Santa Rosa Sound where I can watch sailboats and pelicans glide past while I take my morning walk. All that in nice weather MOST of the time.

It turns out the Walk Score for an address - a home's Walk Score - is not about the beauty or comfort of a walk, instead it is designed to help consumers figure out how to live a "car lite" lifestyle. So what does the program consider when determining a Walk Score for a particular address? Here are some of the factors:

• Is there a "Center" - as in shopping, markets, businesses?
• What's the population density?
• Is the area mixed income/mixed use?
• Are there parks and public space?
• How accessible is the area?
• Are there well connected streets with speed control in place?
• Is it close to schools and workplaces?

Now, before you begin to think that this is the coolest real estate tool to come down the pike, consider some of the important things the algorithm doesn't take into consideration:

• The availability of public transportation.
• Safety
• Topography
• Weather

Now, while I think we all need to focus on energy conservation, my view is that the there's more to my neighborhood's "walkability" than the gasoline I can save. Perhaps the web site designers will tweek the algorithms in the future, but until then, at least it's an interesting program providing another piece of the house hunting puzzle.