Walk Score already helps people figure out the most walkable properties in cities across the country, assigning a score from 1 to 100 based on how close homes are to certain amenities like restaurants or theaters. Now, the Seattle-based upstart, which operates under the parent company Front Seat, is rolling out a new service that allows users to search for apartments based on commute times.
I gave the service a whirl tonight, in part because Team GeekWire is looking for new office space and I actually just timed a potential commute. (My commute time clocked in at six minutes by car).
The cool thing with Walk Score is that you can also sort by bike, public transportation and walking. A commute timeline allows you to increase the number of minutes or decrease.
It is a pretty handy tool, and we asked Walk Score CTO Matt Lerner why they’ve limited it to apartment searches at this point. After all, wouldn’t home owners also like to see commute times to local companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Zillow?
Lerner said they are starting with apartments because “millennials are interested in short commutes and the walkable lifestyle.” He also said that it is harder to get real estate data because of MLS requirements.
Here’s a video showcasing the new service.
Walk Score Apartment Search from Walk Score on Vimeo.
