I found this interesting article here:
http://tinyurl.com/683szj
It's about a website run by a group that rates how 'walkable' an area is based on whats near it.
Scores greater than 70 indicate neighborhoods where it's possible to get by without owning a car, while scores greater than 90 qualify communities as a "Walker's Paradise."
You can type in any address in America and it uses Google Maps to calculate whats near it and uses their system to rate how 'walkable' your address is.
Pretty cool. Also dead handy for when yer moving to see if the place your moving to is walkable enough to get by without a car.
The address I used to live at in America had a score of 29. That really sucks. Another address I lived in had a 63, close to walkable, however, it was surrounded by inner-city crime ridden areas so ye prolly wouldn't be walking even if the shop was right down the block there.
Still, excellent idea and something thats bound to catch on in the states with the price of gas being so high.
http://walkscore.com