What is a Walkable Neighborhood?
A Walkable Neighborhood is… a place where people live within walking distance to most places they want to visit, whether it is school, work, a grocery store, a park, church, a bank, retail shops, a drug store, and so on.
A Walkable Neighborhood is… a place where walking, biking, or mass transit are the preferred means of transportation, and motorized vehicles are used on rare occasions.
A Walkable Neighborhood is… an environment that is pleasant and safe to walk or bike in at all hours of the day.
A Walkable Neighborhood is… a place that is accessible to ALL persons, including those with disabilities, and is compliant with the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
A Walkable Neighborhood is… a place where children can walk or bike safely to school in a friendly environment, and costly school buses are not necessary.
A Walkable Neighborhood is… a place that has a distinctive identity or character that people want to visit, often referred to as a sense of place.
A Walkable Neighborhood is… a building block of the walkable community, where neighborhoods are interconnected, but maintain their own distinctive qualities and characteristics.
This article will be an on-going project. We welcome your own input and thoughts on what constitutes a walkable neighborhood. We will continually add new statements to this article. We thought this would be a more interesting way to explain walkability and why it is important. The photo above was shot in the German Village in Columbus, Ohio – one of my all-time favorite walkable neighborhoods. I also had some wonderful volunteers in this photo. View the full sized image of this photo in the photo gallery.
Comments:
I live in a great walkable beach community in San Diego, CA called Pacific Beach. Because this area is so busy (with tourists and suburbanites), my family chooses never to on the weekends. Since we don’t need to drive to work, we just bike everywhere because everything is accessible including the beach, mom and pop restaurants (and a few small chains), boutique stores and a grocery store. It’s expensive to live here, and though we live in an old 1,000 SF cottage, we feel it's for a better quality of life. Pacific Beach should be listed as a great walkable community.
— Angela Gerber 687 days ago #
Hi Angela, thanks for the comment. I was actually just in Pacific Beach a few weeks ago. You’re right, it is very walkable. Although, I was just passing through on the bus to La Jolla so I didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked to. Sounds like a great place to live, and right on the ocean! I am going to start compiling a list of great walkable neighborhoods someday. If I only had more time. I’d actually like to start a certification program like the Tree City USA or the All-American City program. Ours would be cooler though!
— Eric 687 days ago #
That’s a great idea, Eric. Compiling a list of walkable neighborhoods may encourage more people to form such neighborhoods. If the distance is beyond walking, one could at least ride a bike and still be withing a reasonable distance where it would not be necessary to drive a car. Our reliance on automobiles is out of control in this country and as a result, we have created our own monster to cope with which is reliance on OIL. I support walking and formation of neighborhoods where that would be possible. People might get to know others and become friendlier, as well.
— Rita R. Capello 568 days ago #
The acronym is SHAPE safe, healthy, accessible, pleasant and efficient. So shape up your neighborhood. Palo Alto has created a walkable neighborhood with chokers and diverters on its streets.
— Gladwyn d'Souza 517 days ago #
I’m looking for walkable (and affordable)neighborhoods in the Chicago area. Any recommendations? Thanks.
— Rev. Marian Hale 165 days ago #
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