Going for a walk every day - what a simple way to be healthy! Walking is good for your heart, lungs, muscles and bones. You can reap huge benefits just by stepping out the door each day to walk around your neighbourhood.

But you may have concerns about how “walkable” your community is. Are businesses close enough to walk to? Do you feel safe on foot? Are there sidewalks, paths and crosswalks?

The challenge of walkability is not easy to address, but many communities are working to ensure that people are able to walk in their neighbourhoods. This article tells you about the benefits of walking in your neighbourhood, what makes a neighbourhood walkable, and how to make your community more walkable.

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The Benefits of Walking
Walking is good for your health. It uses your whole body and can be as easy or intense as you want to make it. You can do it alone, or with your dog, your family or a group of friends.

Walking is an inexpensive way to get around. It doesn’t take a lot of equipment. All you need is a good set of walking shoes, and a good knapsack or buggy will let you carry things like books to the library or groceries home.

Walking is good for the environment. The more you walk, the less you drive. Fewer pollutants are put into the air.

Walking connects you with your community and helps you feel that you belong there. When you’re out for a walk, you have a chance to greet your neighbours and catch up on local news. You may notice new things going on in your community. Was that new house there a year ago? Is that a community garden in the park?

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What Makes a Neighbourhood Walkable?
Density. You are not encouraged to leave the car at home when buildings and facilities are a considerable distance from each other. You probably don’t want to walk a kilometre in one direction to get to the store and then another kilometre in the opposite direction to get to the library.

Street design. Straight-running streets and avenues (a grid pattern) have corners at the end of each block, giving you a choice of four directions to travel in. If you have back lanes as well, you can quickly cut through to meet a friend who lives one block away. Curved streets with cul-de-sacs, on the other hand, can be harder to walk in. There are not as many paths directly connecting one road to another. Sometimes you have to walk a long way to get to a main street that connects you with other cul-de-sacs.

Central meeting areas. A walkable community likely has a park or a playground or a community hall - places for people to gather and be active. There are also many nearby shops and services that residents need: for example, a grocery store, a library, a drugstore and schools.

How to Make Your Community More Walkable
Work with your community league to find out about available city groups and programs. For instance, the Woodcroft community in Edmonton has worked with Walkable Edmonton to create a neighbourhood walking map.

If you live in a rural or smaller community with no sidewalks or trails, talk to your town council or health region about creating places to walk. Tell your leaders how important it is to promote healthy living.

Create a dialogue with your town council and planners about fixing crumbling sidewalks or curbs that need curb-outs for strollers, wheelchairs and bicycles.

Be informed about town plans that may affect your neighbourhood. Will a new sewer line be installed or a road repaved? If so, ask for designs that make the community more walkable.

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Organize a charette, which is a workshop involving community members and business leaders that results in a plan of action for community design. The outcomes can include both short-term and long-term plans. A charette might be held:

• in response to news of a plan for development
• to help guide the design of future developments
• to help solve a specific problem

In addition to working with your community, you can take steps as an individual. If you own a property, consider putting a bench out front so people walking by can sit and rest. Keep your walks clear of ice and snow in the winter. Perhaps leave an outside light on at night to help walkers feel safer.

Walkable communities are healthy communities because walking is a great way to be physically active and connect with your community. It’s up to you to decide how much walking you include in your day, but it’s up to your community to provide places where it is safe, easy and fun to walk.

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Learn More
Walkable Edmonton
This City of Edmonton webpage provides information about the Walkable Edmonton initiative.

Walkability Checklist
This checklist from the U.S. Department of Transportation Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center helps you determine the walkability of your neighbourhood.

Walk Score
Walk Score is an interactive tool for assessing an area’s walkability.