Do you know there is a “walk score” that has been developed to find out if you live in a walkable neighborhood?  It calculates the pedestrian friendliness of your address by locating nearby stores, restaurants and parks.  A recent article in the New York Times cites that “walkability” is becoming an increasingly important factor in selecting a home.  The ability to walk places without having to get into a car is listed as one of the most important reasons people choose to live Downtown.

Of course there are  obvious health benefits to walking, but it’s clearly something more that causes people to want to leave their cars behind.  Imagine making those routine, short trips to do errands on foot.  You greet your neighbors on the sidewalk and come home from the dry cleaners having had a brisk walk, rather than feeling annoyed over the difficulty in finding a parking place.  Then layer in the burden of devoting more and more money (gasoline cost) and time (traffic congestion) to serve your dependency on your car… 

Welcome to Downtown living!  Since suburban patterns of living are designed for the car, breaking free often means choosing to live in more densely populated areas in the Downtown, where the pedestrian experience is enhanced as shops can locate closer together and mass transit can be offered as an alternative to walking for longer trips and inclement weather.…

The free Eco-friendly (hybrid electric) R-Line bus service started in February 2009, as a way to help to connect employees, residents and visitors to retail, restaurants and entertainment venues in different parts of the Downtown loop.  

The city’s YouRHere branding is hard to miss as the big green and blue colored buses navigate their 20 stops throughout the Downtown rea.  You never have to walk too far to an R-Line bus stop, and with 2 buses running along the 25 minute circular route, the longest wait is only around 12 minutes.

Source: Ridership numbers provided by City of Raleigh – Transit.…