Tell Us!
What Makes a City Walkable?
Ever wonder why there are far fewer car per capital in countries outside the U.S? It’s because cities and communities were designed around walking. The U.S. expanded with the motor car, and now we’re finding we have to shift our thinking if we want to reconnect our urban communities with the people who live and work there.
Fortunately, federal policy beginning to shift from auto-centric planning, and new pedestrian-friendly designs are becoming the norm. Walkability is increasingly valued for a variety of reasons. Not only does pedestrian transportation reduce congestion and have low environmental impact, it has social and recreational value.
Recent research suggests that walking also promotes mental and physical health. The quality of the pedestrian environment is key to encouraging people to choose walking over driving. Six criteria are presented for design of a successful pedestrian network: (1) connectivity; (2) linkage with other modes; (3) fine grained land use patterns; (4) safety; (5) quality of path; and (6) path context.
To achieve more walkable cities, it will be necessary to assess current walkability conditions so we can revise standards and regulations. That’s where you come in.
By promoting public involvement in pedestrian planning, we are able to bring about change more rapidly. If we want our government leaders and public servants to respond to change, we have to tell them what we want.
Urban Walking Assessment
Feedback is an important part of helping a city determine what changes make it more comfortable to its residents. Let us hear about your walking experience along our routes. Take just a moment to complete this easy form. We’ll make sure that it gets into to the right hands to help build the kind of walkable city we all want to live in.
Post Pictures From Your Walk
