Capital BikeShare photo by Arlington County licensed under CC BY-NC
Lifting up public health and safety, while fostering community, make walkable neighborhoods desirable.
Find yours today.
By Nathalie Gee
On a recent trip to visit family in Los Angeles, I decided to go for a run around their residential community. Imagine my surprise when I tried to cross Sunset Boulevard, only to find myself where the sidewalk ends. Making a loop would have meant crossing four lanes of rush-hour traffic without a crosswalk. So I turned back, adding several miles to my route. There’s a big difference living in a walkable community, like my Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in New York City.
Cars at the center: What is the cost?
Generally speaking, our Western built environment centers on motor vehicles, with little concern for the negative consequences.
Walking is the cheapest and most common means of transportation across the globe. Despite the innate ease of walking, for most of us, the average American walks a mere 1.5 to 2 miles per day. Most Americans rely on cars, driving nearly 13,500 miles a year (2022 data).
Reliance on cars was not always the default. The US underwent a rapid and deliberate shift toward cars in the 20th century. Increasing dependence on cars meant less walking, biking, and public transit.
This has led to an “epidemic of inactivity,” as described by the authors of a recent study. “Car brain” is the idea that we have rewired our brains with a pro-car bias. That’s just what we’re used to. Most of us have “a cultural inability to think objectively and dispassionately” about the benefits and relative costs of cars and driving.
Dangerous and expensive
In 2021, 42,939 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, many of them pedestrians, and millions more are injured every year. The costs associated with buying and operating cars are disproportionate to the average American’s spending on other necessities, second only to housing.
The societal costs associated with building and maintaining the vast infrastructure needed to support Americans’ car obsession are astronomical. Beyond drilling and refineries; local roads, parking, and gas stations; the federal government spent $46 billion on highways in 2019 alone.
Finally, the average passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year! Transportation is the largest contributor to US greenhouse gasses, and about 57% of that comes from light-duty vehicles.
Consider the typical American suburb, where walking or biking to schools and stores is difficult. Because so much land is dedicated to single-family properties, necessary destinations are too far to reasonably walk or bike. And the built environment can be hostile to pedestrians, often missing sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks, or public transit stops.
Asking more of our neighborhoods
Recent shifts in city planning, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, have sparked renewed interest in the “15-minute city.” The concept is that everything a resident needs—healthcare, education, work, and leisure—can be accessed within a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit trip from anywhere in the community.
Walkable communities are in demand. A 2023 poll by the National Association of REALTORS found that urbanites living in walkable communities were more likely to be very satisfied with their quality of life. Plus, over 30% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents said they were willing to “pay a lot more”’ to live in a walkable community. More often than not, respondents said they would choose multifamily housing over single-family, if it meant they could easily walk to shops and restaurants.
Proven benefits
The health benefits of walkable communities are demonstrable. According to the NY Academy of Medicine, 67% of New Yorkers report engaging in the recommended amounts of physical activity, compared to just 50 percent of Americans. Another study of urban neighborhoods in Ontario, Canada, showed lower rates of obesity and diabetes in more walkable neighborhoods.
When walking or biking replaces driving for shorter trips, carbon emissions and other air pollutants fall. This is reinforces the health benefits of walking and biking, and their enjoyability.
Walkable neighborhoods also facilitate social interaction and foster a stronger sense of community. Shopping at local stores and dining regularly in local restaurants build connections and prevent isolation. People are more likely to talk with neighbors, as they walk through their community.
What do walkable communities look like?
Walkable communities consider pedestrians at the heart of their design and infrastructure. The opposite of car-centric, these communities center on infrastructure designed to promote accessibility—for all physical abilities—to services and necessities on foot, by scooter or bike, and via public transit.
Walkable communities generally feature several common characteristics:
- Open and green space
- Mixed-use zoning
- Pedestrian-friendly infrastructure
- Robust public transit
These common characteristics often weave together to deliver a cohesive urban environment. Maintaining and improving walkability requires demographic research; plus outreach, education, and real involvement with communities and local grassroots organizations. Comprehensive, forward-looking plans and policies—plus continuous monitoring and evaluation of projects’ impacts—mean that a community can be proactive (rather than reactive).
Open spaces
Open and green spaces can look like parks, community gardens, plazas, public seating, or playgrounds. According to the EPA, community open space is “socially valuable, attractive to prospective buyers, and generates multiple economic benefits for local governments, home owners, and businesses.” Walkable cities tend to have lively streets and welcoming public areas, fitted with benches, shade trees, public art, adequate street lighting, bike lanes, safe footpaths, crosswalks, and well-connected streets with buffers from cars.
Public spaces in walkable communities often go hand-in-hand with other pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and mixed use zoning. Pedestrian-friendly infrastructure promotes accessibility for people of all abilities: sidewalks with ramps, smooth pavement, and traffic lights equipped with acoustic signals, for example. And less local congestion and air pollution means better health outcomes for those local sensitive populations:
- schools, playgrounds and childcare centers
- long-term care and rehab facilities
- medical facilities
- retirement homes and communities
- residences
Walkable mixed-use zoning creates walkable jobs, as local residents live, work, shop, and dine without large infrastructure dedicated to parking. Mixed-use zoning can also boost property values, and lessen the burden of busing on school systems.
Courtesy National Association of REALTORS®
Going places
Public transit systems are fundamental to promoting walkability. Transit-oriented development (TOD) maximizes the variety of amenities within walking distance of public transport. This symbiotic relationship starts with transit hubs catalyzing commercial and residential developments around them.
TOD also accounts for first and last mile (FLM) considerations, defined as the distance a person travels before boarding or after disembarking. That first or last leg of the trip has posed a major barrier in accessing public transit. Is the transit stop close by?
This is especially prevalent in poor and underserved communities, where public transportation constitutes the major mode of travel. Some communities, such as Kansas City, MO, and Portland, OR, offer on-demand, micro-transit services like shuttles. Electric scooters and e-bike apps help where FLM distances are formidable for walkers.
Leading by example
Arlington County, VA, exemplifies a community that combines many of these characteristics. Walk Friendly Communities has designated the Arlington as a Platinum-level Walk Friendly Community for its successes with multi-modal transportation, guided by a Master Transportation Plan.
The county has also emphasized safety and pedestrian walkability initiatives: a comprehensive Vision Zero aims to eliminate transportation-related deaths and severe injuries.” (More than 50 communities across the US have committed to Vision Zero.) WalkArlington and BikeArlington work with the director of “active transportation” and a team of professionals devoted to improving conditions for people on foot and on wheels. Their Complete Streets program, and a transportation safety initiative, conduct projects that improve pedestrian lighting, install curb ramps, expand sidewalks, and enhance crosswalks and signals.
Finally, Arlington County has dealt with public parking in creative ways. On-street spaces are provided at minimal cost to car-sharing programs, reducing the need for private automobiles. Arlington is currently piloting a demand-based parking fee structure: “surge” pricing some of the highest-demand parking spaces to encourage turnover, and pushing drivers toward lower-priced, low-demand parking areas.
Arlington County boasts 527 miles of sidewalks; 50 miles of paved, multi-use trails; and 14.5 miles of hiking/natural trails. By researching these programs, one can plainly see that this community has prioritized pedestrians, easy access to public transportation, sidewalks, and mixed-use zoning. Overall, they’ve created a safe, comfortable, and inviting place to live and walk.
Find a walkable community
Aside from researching communities individually, there are many ways to find walkable communities. If you are house- or apartment-hunting, start with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Walkability Index or Walk Score. They rank block groups according to their relative walkability based on several indicators, including street intersection density, employment types, and occupied housing. Alternatively, search EPA’s Smart Location Calculator and see how walkable your workplace is. Realty Sage‘s Sage Score considers walkability among several other sustainability measures.
Another way to understand the walkability of a given neighborhood is to walk it for yourself! Try mapping the route to your workplace and taking local public transit. Visit the neighborhood at different times, like a weeknight and a weekend, to get a sense of what to expect. Try out a local restaurant to experience the vibe.
Consider your goals and values when choosing a new neighborhood. Efficient public transit, access to necessities within reasonable distances, bike-friendly roadways, and pedestrian infrastructure like sidewalks and crosswalks… Together these make communities walkable, healthier, and more sustainable.
Walkability revolves around creating neighborhoods where daily necessities—such as grocery stores, schools, parks, and dining options—are within easy walking distance. This approach not only enhances convenience but also fosters a healthier, more vibrant and connected community.
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The author:
Nathalie Gee is an environmental consultant based in New York City. She is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University, where she majored in environmental science. She is a frequent contributor to Elemental Green and Zero Energy Project and focuses on sustainability and climate topics.
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