One of our early blog posts was taking a look at a then-new site called Walk Score and examining how Rahway stacked up against neighbors and other redeveloping towns when it came to its Walk Score.

Last fall, the Seattle-based Walk Score released a ranking of New Jersey’s 61 largest cities and their scores, with Rahway ranked 21st in the state.

Four years ago, we simply input Rahway into the Walk Score calculator without a specific address and did the same for a dozen or so other towns recently. The first score is from our initial post in 2008, and the second score was arrived at when we input the town more recently into the Walk Score.

Interesting results, as Rahway is off by a few points compared to several years ago, but for whatever reason several towns really changed their score, whether that’s because of an evolution in how WalkScore computes the score or physical changes within the towns. Remember, it’s a computer program, so it’s got its drawbacks. Interesting nonetheless. Our rankings would look a bit different today from 2008.

Metuchen, 97 — 97
Morristown, 95 — 75
Hoboken, 94 — 92
Red Bank, 91 — 94
Woodbridge, 86 — 61
New Brunswick, 85 — 70
Kenilworth, 80 — 77
Manville, 78 — 71
Roselle Park, 77 — 77
Rahway, 74 — 69
Carteret, 71 — 57
Garwood, 71 — 89
Linden, 68 — 67
Iselin, 64 — 61
Colonia, 62 — 46
Roselle, 60 — 63
Clark, 55 — 74
Edison, 54 — 62

A score between 90 and 100 is considered “A walker’s paradise,” with no need for a car. A score between 70 and 90 is “very walkable,” where it’s possible to get by without a car. A score between 50 and 70 has “some walkable locations” by many everyday trips require a car, mass transit or bike. A score of less than 50 equals “car dependent.”