Finally, Philadelphia is in the top 5 of something, and no, it's not a listing of cities with the rudest sports fans.

It's walkability, a word which in Pottstown, all too often carries bizarre connotations of conspiracy.

And how do we know? A Web site of course.

Although I agree with an article I read recently in the Atlantic that the Internet is changing the way we read, and thus how we think (that's a story for another day and not necessarily a happy one), it's hard to argue that the Internet is good for something.

And one of them is nifty sites like this.

Called "Walkscore," the site is the brainchild of a Seattle software company called Front Seat.

The simple (if you're a computer wizard) program takes an address you plug in and then uses mapping software to figure out how far away necessary amenities like the grocery store, schools, restaurants (and bars), parks and libraries are to that address.

Like most people, I immediately plugged in my address and discovered I live at a 66 out of 100.

Of course, some of the information is out of date.

For example, it cites St. Aloysius as the nearest school, but does not take note of Lincoln Elementary School at all, which is a five minute walk we make every morning when school is in session.

It also lists Dunkin' Donuts as the nearest coffee shop, when everyone knows that Churchill's on High Street has both superior coffee and baked goods in a whole different (and more delicious) galaxy than anything the "time to make the donuts" people can concoct.

And some don't exist. It lists Brainwaves for Kids as the nearest book store, a business which, sadly, is no longer with us (In fact Pottstown has been needing a good book store every since I moved here) and something called Movieland Express as the nearest theater. That sounds more like a video store to me and nothing that's still around.

But some are right on the money. The library is .72 miles and Memorial Park, a favorite summer hang-out of my son and I, is only .32 miles.

We humans, Americans in particular it seems, like to rank ourselves against ourselves and there's no denying that "walkability" was one of the primary reasons my wife and I chose Pottstown (price and resplendently classic architecture being the others. Did I mention price?)

Unlike Ed Ritti, who identified himself to me at a recent school board meeting as one of my nine regular readers (a shout out to the Rittis is warranted here) and who told the school board "my wife and I could have bought anywhere," Pottstown pricing is what allowed us to afford a house at all. The fact that its walkable, charming and old were happy coincidences.

But I digress.

You have no doubt by now already used the hyperlink I provided (see how techno-savvy I've become folks?) to check your own score and probably discovered that despite the somewhat spotty nature of the map program's information, that just about every place in Pottstown is pretty walkable (with the exception of Rosdeale, which the site gives a score of 48 and calls "car dependent. Not sure I agree with that, or that Rosedale residents would either.)

But place like the corner of Beech and Evans streets, where upscale lofts are planned for the former Fecera's furniture warehouse, gets a whopping score of 75 out of 100, edging out Philadelphia's overall score of 74, putting it at number five in the nation.

Oh by the way, I'm sure you're wondering, who is number one?

Well, the top five are, in order, San Francisco (86), New York (83), Boston (79), Chicago (76) and Philadelphia, (74) according to this article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The losers, by the way, are all those places built or, more recently re-built, by planning geniuses who are more concerned about accommodating cars than people.

They are: Jacksonville, Fla. (36), Nashville (39), Charlotte (39), Indianapolis (42) and Oklahoma City (43).

All of which begs the question, why walk, and what's your point here oh Thin Green blogger?

Well patient reader, first of all, there's the obvious. Walking means you're not using a car, which means you're not polluting the air, which means we need less gas, which means we're less dependent on volatile places like the Middle East, which means life is beautiful and flowers will bloom spontaneously in the streets.

Those flowers will also grow in places they're meant to grow, like fields and forests, which will remain like that if we can stop bulldozing them to make room for more sub-divisions where a car is required to get the mail at the bottom of a half-mile-long driveway and bring folks back to the towns where walkability has the above and below benefits.

Then there's the benefit to you. Walking is, obviously, exercise. And we need more of it as a nation. I know I do.

Walking to do things like go to the pharmacy or grab a box of cereal means not only that you're getting things done and burning calories at the same time, helping muscle tone, burning fat, helping you live longer and bringing you closer to spiritual fulfillment, it also means you can get stuff done while you exercise instead of having exercise suck up an empty hour out of your day on a treadmill watching The View without any sound.

But this program isn't perfect. (What is beside the Rob Reiner masterpiece, "The Princess Bride?")

The site's operators are the first to urge you to "use the Web 3.0 application called going outside and investigating the world for yourself." I'm sure they meant after you finish reading this blog.

There are other factors like:

"Safety from crime and crashes: How much crime is in the neighborhood? How many traffic accidents are there? Are streets well-lit?

"Pedestrian-friendly community design: Are buildings close to the sidewalk with parking in back? Are destinations clustered together?

"Topography: Hills can make walking difficult, especially if you're carrying groceries. (Can? CAN!!!! Tell that to the people on Master or Mervine streets.)

"Freeways and bodies of water: Freeways can divide neighborhoods. Swimming is harder than walking."

I love that last observation. Man these folks are smart!

So far, according to the article, users have looked up rankings for more than 2 million addresses on the site, which began last July.

Locally, Royersford comes out with a score of 62, which the site calls "somewhat walkable," while Boyertown gets a 68 and Pottstown's overall score is 75, or "very walkable."
Douglassville comes in at a paltry 43, or "car dependent," similar to Limerick's 46 and East Coventry's amazingly low score of 2.

Phoenixville, by the way, was the reigning champion with a whopping good score of 88 out of 100.

Which brings up a good point.

Having things close together so walking is practical is, of course, important. But Phoenixville is no more closely built than Pottstown.

The difference here is there is more stuff to do in Phoenixville, particularly it's downtown, thereby driving down the necessity of driving places to do things. Economic revitalization has made it more attractive simply by providing more stores and more services within walking distance.

If this constantly-talked-about-but-never-built train between Philly and Reading ever gets legs, the place might get a score of 100. According to the site, a score between 90 and 100 means you can live your life without a car at all.

Don't gasp in shock. It's not a new idea. After all, we didn't have cars in the Middle Ages.

But these days we give it a fancy name called Transit Oriented Design, the idea being if you built cool, efficient housing near a train station, people can get where they need to go on the train, or a bus (or on one of Pottstown's free bicycles) and ditch the car completely.

Imagine, no car payments, no insurance, no PennDOT lines and, these days of most importance, no coughing up a kidney whenever you want to fill the tank.

It used to be the driving force behind what was called the Schuylkill Valley Metro and is now less ambitiously called the R-6 extension, was traffic on Route 422. Maybe now that it's the price of gas, things will move a little faster.

In the meantime, Pottstown should get off it's duff and focus on economic revitalization. Not only will it up our walkability score, it has the added advantage of making this a nicer place to live.