Green Living
Hitting the pavement is one aspect of living an eco-friendly lifestyle. Not only does choosing a walkable neighborhood enable buyers to use less fuel and get more exercise, but it could make folks happier.
Residents of walkable neighborhoods experience a higher qualify of life, with physical, mental health and social benefits, researchers at the University of New Hampshire found in a 2010 study published in the Applied Research in Quality of Life journal. The researchers looked at “social capital” measures, such as civic engagement, socializing and trust in a community, and found that walkable neighborhoods reduce isolation and cause residents to be more involved in their communities.
For his first home, Zaven O’Bryant, 25, a Ph.D. student at Morehouse School of Medicine, chose a walkable community in Atlanta and found some of those benefits, too.
The priority
A walkable neighborhood and convenience to restaurants and shops, MARTA and school, and his family.
The search
O’Bryant, who had been renting an apartment in Buckhead, spent two years searching for his first home. He had a budget in the mid-$100,000s, so much of his research was spent on grants to make an Atlanta condo more affordable.
Three grants covered about $100,000 of the $159,000 Sky Lofts condo in Atlanta’s West End. The 189 condos are eligible for an average of $50,000 in down payment assistance through the Atlanta Beltline Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Qualified buyers at Sky Lofts, which has condos from $87,900-$187,900, need to pay $1,500 toward closing costs. He also got help from two other grant programs.
“I would not have been able to buy a condo here without the assistance from the grants,” he said.
The home
A one-bedroom, one-bath condo in Sky Lofts, near Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard and Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. The 777-square-foot condo has modern touches, with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and Energy Star-rated appliances. He has spent about $2,000 on paint, new light fixtures and adding a small island to the kitchen.
The lifestyle
Sky Lofts is across the street from a grocery store and CVS, and eateries on the property include a Quiznos. He walks to MARTA and to the Morehouse School of Medicine, about seven minutes away. What O’Bryant has come to appreciate is diversity of the neighborhood, in terms of religion. Catholic, Muslim and Christian organizations are all within walking distance. O’Bryant, who describes himself as someone who samples churches, has attended Mass at a nearby Catholic church and also walked to Impact Church, a United Methodist congregation that meets at Brown Middle School.
“Walkability was the over-the-top bonus for it,” he said. “If I choose to walk more places, even if it’s a short distance, then I save on gas. It’s just very easy to get by on walking if you make the honest effort to get by on walking.”
Walkable neighborhoods
Atlanta is the 20th most walkable U.S. city, according to Walk Score, a Seattle-based company that ranks 2,500 cities and their neighborhoods based on amenities within walking distance and access to public transit. It's not surprising that New York, San Francisco and Boston are the top three.
At www.walkscore.com, you can type in an address to find its walk score and nearby schools, parks, restaurants, libraries, grocery stores, banks and shops. You also can search for an apartment by neighborhood or city.
