Buzz from the community

Put on your walking shoes (and grab an umbrella if you are in the Boston area). It’s been a great month for walkers who also happen to be internet savvy (oh man, iPhone addicts are going to be bumping into each other left and right):

• Starting today, you can now look up walking directions on Google Maps in addition to driving and public transportation directions (Only available in some cities—and not Boston yet!). If your reaction to this was, “Cool! Wait…why didn’t they have that already?” you aren’t alone. The directions realize that there are no “one way” sidewalks and include a foot-based time estimate. Now, when are they going to release a feature for bike directions?
• Last week, WalkScore, the awesome site that tells you how easy it is to live solely on walking based on your address, released maps of the country’s most walkable cities and neighborhoods. Boston is number three! Woot!

So spend a few minutes on your computer then get out the door and down the street. And, for good measure, here’s an oldie but goodie:

• GMaps Pedometer uses Google Maps to measure the distance of any route you enter—on or off road. It’s a great feature for measuring running routes, or finding out how far you’ll have to walk if you take a shortcut through a greenspace or parking lot.

Image from Flickr user kalandrakas shared with a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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