a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology used 11,000 twins to show that whenever a neighborhood becomes 1 percent more walkable […] residents walk 0.42 percent more minutes a week. So if a city boosts an area’s walkability by about 50 percent, an average resident might theoretically walk about 20 more minutes a week, according to the study.
I feel like there has to be a tipping point after which increases in walkability lead to much larger increases in minutes walked. It’s not surprising that a 1% increase in walkability only leads to 0.42 percent more minutes of walking, because that’s just a small tweak to an overall car-dominated hell. It seems like 50% more walkable would pass a threshold, making it safe and even enjoyable to walk.
In fact, there are plenty of anecdotes to that effect. It’s great to see hard data like this; let’s hope for more.
I feel like there has to be a tipping point after which increases in walkability lead to much larger increases in minutes walked. It’s not surprising that a 1% increase in walkability only leads to 0.42 percent more minutes of walking, because that’s just a small tweak to an overall car-dominated hell. It seems like 50% more walkable would pass a threshold, making it safe and even enjoyable to walk.
In fact, there are plenty of anecdotes to that effect. It’s great to see hard data like this; let’s hope for more.