Helpful Web Sites

Yes, I know “walkable” isn’t a word, but for those of you who are clients or frequent readers of my blog, you know that I love the web site www.WalkScore.com.

From the web sites main page you can enter any address in America and it will populate a map of the area immediately surrounding that address with all of the amenities the neighborhood has to offer.  Schools, parks, libraries, gyms, grocery stores coffee shops, etc.  It will also tabulate a “walk score”, for that neighborhood.  The Walk Score is a number from 1 to 100 rating of how “walkable”  the neighborhood is.

On the site they have a list of the top 40 most walkable metropolitan cities in America.  Our beloved Seattle ranked 6th.  Here is their top ten:

1.  San Francisco

2.  New York

3. Boston

4. Chicago

5. Philadelphia

6.  Seattle

7.  Washington DC

8.  Long Beach, CA

9.  Los Angeles

10.  Portland

Nice job Seattle.  Not a huge surprise for those of us that live, walk and ride here.

The site goes on to rank the top neighborhoods within Seattle.  I thought this info might be of greater use to those of you who have already decided to shop here in the Seattle area.

According to WalkScore.com here are the top walking neighborhoods in Seattle and their “walk score”:

1. Pioneer Square  99
2. Downtown  97
3. First Hill  96
4. Belltown  95
5. Roosevelt  95
6. International District  94
7. South Lake Union  94
8. University District  94
9. Lower Queen Anne  93
10. Wallingford  90
11. Central District  89
12. Capital Hill  87
13. Ballard  87
14. Freemont  85
15. Green Lake  84

Here are the “least walkable” neighborhoods according to WalkScore.com:

• Blue Ridge  32
• Windermere  33
• North Beach  34
• Arbor Heights  35
• Mathews Beach  40
• View Ridge  40
• Fauntleroy  42
• Rainier Beach  44
• South Park  48
• Broadview  48
• Riverview  49
• Seward Park  50
• Highland Park 52
• Hawthorne Hills  52
• Alki  52

Don’t shoot the messenger.  I know many of you love the neighborhoods on the not so walkable list.  feel free to browse the walkscore.com site though.  I think you’ll find it really helpful and a lot of fun.

As always,  if you are looking for an agent, give me a call.  I’ll be happy to help.

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Rob Graham, Acredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 7% [?]

If you are reading this you are probably a fan of blogs.  I can also assume you have some interest in the Seattle real estate market as well given the title of my blog.  So it occurred to me that you might find a list of helpful blogs about Seattle neighborhoods valuable.

I have to admit that I got the idea because a blog all about Beacon Hill recently picked up an article that I posted and posted a link to it on their site.  I was flattered and thought that home buyers currently shopping might want an list of other blogs. 

If you are familiar with Seattle, you know that every five blocks in this town has a different personality.  To find the one that fits you and your lifestyle the best here are some helpful blogs.

Beacon Hill:

http://beaconhill.seattle.wa.us/  Thanks again for the link love.

West Seattle:

http://westseattleblog.com/blog/

Capital Hill:

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/

Queen Anne:

http://www.queenanneview.com/

Georgetown:

http://www.blogginggeorgetown.com/

Magnolia:

http://www.magnoliavoice.com/

Ballard:

http://www.myballard.com/

Wedgwood:

http://wedgwoodblog.spaces.live.com/

Belltown:

http://www.belltowner.com/

South Lake Union:

http://www.thesouthlake.com/

Wallingford:

http://wallingfordseattle.tumblr.com/

If you want to subscribe to any of these blogs just click on the RSS feed within any of them.  You can receive any new posts to the site when they are made available.  It is a great way to keep you eyes on a neighborhood. 

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 80% [?]

Here is another great resource for public school information anywhere in the state of Washington.  The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) maintains a web site that can be accessed independently or from many school district web sites.  The site offers information on the entire state, a given school district or any given school.  Information provided includes demographic information on students, teacher information and testing results.  You can choose the most recent year or go back to previous years to see progress.   OSPI Washington State Report Card  

Related topic:  

Seattle home Buyer Public School Information

This article was originally written by me on my Active Rain Blog

  Give me a call if you need help.  

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Finding information about local school districts is a major consideration when shopping for a home.  I originally wrote this post for another blog of mine on Active Rain Last Spring.  The information was good enough that I thought I would post it again here.

Also, for those of you who don’t know me all that well yet, I used to work in both the Shoreline and Highline School Districts and still have many friends in both.  If you have specific concerns about any particular district, please don’t hesitate to ask and I will try to find the answer for you.

Here are my recommendations for web sites for finding out more information about all of the local school districts.

The Seattle Times actually maintains a great web site about local districts.  The map feature is really helpful to see current boundaries of school Districts.  Click on a given district to get a brief synopsis of that district.  I think it is really helpful for anyone basing a purchase decision on district reputation.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/schoolguide/districts.html

In addition there are a couple of other web sites I would recommend.
GreatSchools.net is an excellent resource for parents of school age children.  It has all kinds of articles about being a parent of a school age child. 
http://www.greatschools.net/

SchoolMatters.com is another excellent resource to find out information about specific teachers, schools and districts.  In fact you can look at other parent’s comments about specific schools and
teachers.

http://www.schoolmatters.com/

Here are web sites to specific districts:

Bainbridge Island: http://www.bainbridge.wednet.edu/

Bellevue: http://www.bsd405.org/

Edmonds: http://www.edmonds.wednet.edu/

Everett: http://www.everett.k12.wa.us/everett

Federal Way: http://www.fwps.org/

Highline: http://www.hsd401.org/

Issaquah: http://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/

Kent: http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/webnav/

Lake Washington: http://www.lwsd.org/Pages/default.aspx

Mercer Island: http://www.misd.k12.wa.us/

Monroe: http://www.monroe.wednet.edu/

Mukilteo: http://www.mukilteo.wednet.edu/

North Shore: http://www.nsd.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectionid=1

Renton: http://www.renton.wednet.edu/

Seattle: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/main/index.dxml

Shoreline: http://www.shorelineschools.org/

Snohomish: http://www.sno.wednet.edu/

Vashon Island: http://www.vashonsd.wednet.edu/

Related Topic:

Washington State School Report Card for Seattle Home Buyers

If you have any questions or need help, feel free to leave me a comment, e-mail or call,

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 39% [?]

If you are one of those people who loves going to open houses or even just doing drive by’s of all the homes your friendly neighborhood real estate agent keeps sending you, you are no doubt familiar with how difficult and confusing Seattle streets can be.  Lakes, hills, dead ends, one ways, blah blah, blah.  It can drive even those of us who practically drive for a living nuts.  Here is a quick and easy solution.

DashFly.com is a web site that allows you to punch in as many addresses as you are going to visit and maps the best rout for you.  From the main page you can choose to sign up for an account or simply try it out for free.  I have to admit that I have never signed up for an account.  I just keep using the free map.

Hope it helps.  Give me a call if you need help.

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 2% [?]