Boston Real Estate | Choosing the right Neighborhood

If you live on one of the short streets that loop around Lexington Center, you can easily walk to nearly everything you might desire: food (Super Stop & Shop), a drug store (Theatre Pharmacy), caffeine (Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts), a movie theater, a gym, a shoe store, a library, and plenty of restaurants and bars.

Neighborhoods with the highest walk scores are near restaurants, stores, schools, parks, and other amenities. Residents can run many errands by foot and may not need a car.

It's difficult to get by without a car (or even walk to a nearby restaurant) in these sprawling communities. More time in the car means more money at the pump, less exercise, and more air pollution.

Lexington, with a population of more than 30,000, is one of the most walkable of Boston's suburbs, a rare town where, if you live near the center, you can avoid driving much of the time. Walkscore.com, a website that calculates the "walkability" of neighborhoods, deems Lexington Center just short of a "walker's paradise," awarding it 88 points on a scale of 1 to 100.

The closest food store in Carlisle, which has a population of under 5,000,is a small country store. For a grocery store, you need to drive 4 miles into Bedford. The nearest restaurant, Vincenzo's Ristorante, is nearly 3 miles away in Chelmsford. For a pharmacy, head 4 miles west to the CVS in Acton. A movie theater? Try Lowell.

Walkability has become a buzzword in real estate, as environmentalists and "green" planners advocate compact residential neighborhoods near businesses and public transportation. And some realtors say in this difficult market, houses with high walkability scores are easier to sell: Owners can save money by walking to mass transit, and by using less gas when running errands.

Although the idea of a compact town center is not new, walkability has become easier to quantify, thanks to Walkscore.com. The website's algorithm takes a previously subjective idea - being able to step out your door and walk to places you need to go - and boils it down to a single number. Now online real estate sites, including Zillow and ZipRealty, are beginning to add walkability ratings to their home listings.

So there you have it, Boston has a lot to offer. In terms of real estate, there is something for everyone. And if you are concerned about transportation and being able to walk to your destinations, the places above represent some of the most ideal cities to purchase a home.