Walkability: Top 3 best (and worst!) Denver neighborhoods for walking to the coffee shop

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Walkability -- that is, how close a property is located to grocery stores, banks, restaurants, bus routes and bike trails -- is becoming increasingly important to home-buyers and apartment-dwellers, says local realtor John Skrabec. "People see the benefits of a walkable lifestyle and so they're seeking that out," says Skrabec, who owns Live Urban Real Estate in Denver. So which are Denver's three best (and three worst) neighborhoods, walk-wise?

Here are Skrabec's picks for the best:

The Golden Triangle
"The Golden Trinagle is so close to museums and pubs and restaurants and groceries."

Capitol Hill
The neighborhood, he says, is "a walker's paradise" for many of the same reasons.

LoDo
Even though there's no grocery store (which could change soon!), the neighborhood is full of myriad bars, restaurants and even smaller shops in which to buy food, he says.

And the worst:

Stapleton
"Because there are so few things in Stapleton and they're mostly on Quebec (Street), people deep in Stapleton have a long way to go. They're more car-dependent."

Green Valley Ranch
Green Valley Ranch, far in the city's northeast corner, is also very car-centric, he says.

Southwest Denver, such as Barnum and Villa Park
"There are not a lot of amenities there, and the amenities that are there are on major streets like Federal (Boulevard) and Sheridan (Boulevard)" -- which aren't very walkable.

Curious about your own neighborhood? Check out www.walkscore.com. Simply type in your address and the website will spit out a score on a scale of 1 to 100. Westword's office at 969 Broadway score an 83 -- "very walkable." Too bad we don't live here.

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