What makes a neighborhood walkable? Streets and roads that are accessible for everyone; and have wheelchair ramps, lots of benches with shade and sidewalks on all streets.

Walkable neighborhoods have well designed streets that everyone can use, including bicyclists, pedestrians of all ages and abilities, people getting on and off transit vehicles.

Another thing to look for in walkable neighborhoods are well connected streets that improve traffic and provide many routes to any destination.

Austin has many walkable neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are easy to get around in, and have many amenities that pedestrians can access very easily.

Downtown Austin is our number one walkable neighborhood. Downtown scored a 92 out of a possible 100. The neighborhood has grocery stores such as Whole Foods, several convenient stores. There are also many restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment and parks for citizens to enjoy.

University Of Texas and West University both came in at second, with a score of 87. The University Of Texas is walkable for the students who live on or near campus. Living here makes it easy for students and visitors to be car free and still be able to get around campus and surrounding areas easily.
West University is a neighborhood just west of UT. Students, professors and many others make their home in this small Heritage neighborhood. It is just a short walk to the university, and the streets are lined with trees. Most of the homes in this neighborhood date back to the 1910's and 1920's, making it a nice scenic walk.

North University came in with a score of 83. This neighborhood is in central Austin. Residents have many places to walk in this old neighborhood. One of the most famous places is Trudy's Restaurant, Spider House Cafe and JP's Java, along with the 37th street lighting spectacular during Christmas.

Old West Austin and Bouldin Creek also scored a walkable score of 83. Old West Austin neighborhood has lots of history and plenty of landmarks. The streets are lined with shade trees and the neighborhood has Bed and Breakfast's for visitors. Old West Austin was named one of the 10 best neighborhoods in Austin in 2007. This neighborhood is enjoyable, safe and desirable. Residents of this neighborhood participate in keeping this neighborhood strong and preserving its roots. Chain stores are basically nonexistent in Old West Austin; instead visitors can find specialty shops, restaurants and schools.

Bouldin Creek is a neighborhood that is filled with apartments, homes and mom and pop shops. Running through the heart of the neighborhood is South First Street; with a melting pot of businesses and restaurants.

Austin is full of neighborhoods with shade trees covering the streets and sidewalks, restaurants, bakeries and tattoo shops. That is what makes Austin, Austin!

Next time you are in one of these neighborhoods, find a place to park your car and take time to walk through the streets and look at the yards, trees, homes and businesses that make each neighborhood unique.


At no charge, buyers can search the Austin MLS on Ki's website. The site provides a lot of detail on Austin Texas real estate. Ki started working in real estate as a hobby, and eventually quit his advertising job in Austin, Texas, because real estate was more interesting and fulfilling. He keeps buyers updated on his blog on Austin real estate with statistics and market reports.

Canopy. That’s a great word and a comforting thought when shade is what you need on a hot day. When it’s canopy provided by trees, the word and the comfort loom refreshingly larger in the mind of any summer sun-smitten shade seeker. No man made shade offers quite the appeal of the dark and dappled shade of a live oak tree on a sun-baked lawn.

Austin has a rich urban canopy and, although trees can cause problems with utility lines above ground and roots that break sewer and water lines below, their benefit to the community is undisputable. There are more than 100 species of Hill Country trees and they provide a satisfying and soothing aesthetic component to the urban landscape-basically by hiding it! They also provide significant savings to the city and its residents by reducing air pollution and storm water runoff and by saving electricity by shading homes and businesses which consequently use less power for cooling.

Austin’s urban forest and hilly terrain work together to provide city dwellers with a feeling that they are never far from the country. Many home and business owners in the city incorporate these environmental features into the design of their dwellings and buildings to preserve and accentuate the illusion of an out-of-city experience. Of course, the increased seclusion, privacy and noise reduction afforded by such natural barriers are far from illusory, and provide welcome relief from the expanses of concrete and asphalt that assail the senses in most other cities in Texas and, indeed, in some parts of Austin itself.

The thick woods, green hills and spring-fed streams that grace the area have attracted people to the area since way before the arrival of Europeans and their descendants. For hundreds of years, nomadic indigenous tribes such as the Tonkawa, Comanche and Kiowa Apaches visited the area, attracted by plentiful water, abundant game and reliable campsites along the creeks and streams. It’s easy to imagine that these people also appreciated the shade of the thickly forested hills.

The first European/American settlers founded a series of small towns along the banks of the Colorado River here. One was called Waterloo. Mirabeau B. Lamar, one of the presidents of the Republic of Texas discovered the area during a buffalo hunt and was so impressed by its beauty and its resources that he decided it should become the capital of the new republic. Despite stiff opposition from many people, including Sam Houston, Lamar prevailed and renamed Waterloo Austin, after Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas.

That beauty and those resources have attracted people to Austin ever since and have inspired its residents to preserve it so that it can continue to be enjoyed. The city has more than 16,000 acres of parkland in more than 200 parks, 12 preserves and 26 greenbelts. The Town Lake Corridor offers hiking and biking trails that draw thousands of residents daily to enjoy the natural beauty that the setting along the river bank affords.

Zilker park is another hugely popular green area that attracts tens of thousands of visitors, especially those who come in the summer to escape the heat in the ice cold waters of the Barton Springs pool.

The trees preserved in this extensive park system and in the older neighborhoods of Austin are important to the quality of life that this city has been recognized and honored for. As the city and private groups and foundations continue to support the preservation of old trees and the planting of new ones, its urban canopy will continue to grow and provide shade for generations to come.

Escapeso Realty operates in the Austin real estate market. Their site provides information about current mortgage interest rates along with a free search of the Austin MLS.