How do you actually figure out if a neighborhood is walkable — not just what the WalkScore says?
WalkScore gives you a number but it doesn't tell you whether sidewalks are actually maintained, whether the coffee shop it's counting is open, or whether crossing the main road requires a 10-minute detour. Looking for what people actually do to check walkability before committing to a neighborhood — things you can verify remotely or on a short visit.
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WalkScore is a useful starting point but it measures proximity, not actual walkability. Here is how to go further:
Start with street view. Open Google Maps or Apple Maps street view and walk the route yourself virtually. Look for: continuous sidewalks, curb cuts at intersections, shade (important in Florida summers), and whether the roads you would actually cross have pedestrian signals or just a painted line in a 45mph zone.
Check pedestrian crash data. Florida keeps public crash reports. The Hernando County area has known high-pedestrian-risk corridors, particularly along US-19 and SR-50. If a neighborhood's walkable rating depends on crossing those, the number is misleading.
Use OpenStreetMap. It has sidewalk and crossing data that WalkScore does not use. Search openstreetmap.org for the specific area and zoom in. You can often see which blocks actually have mapped sidewalk infrastructure versus which just have nearby businesses.
Ask the practical question: can I run this errand without a car? Pick one real errand — pharmacy, grocery for one bag, coffee — and trace the actual route. If there is a section where you would be walking on grass next to a drainage ditch, the WalkScore was misleading.
For Spring Hill and Hernando County specifically: most neighborhoods score low because the infrastructure was built car-first. Pockets of genuine walkability tend to be around older commercial strips where actual sidewalks connect to destinations.