From Walkonomics
Walkability is won and lost at street-level
Campoli acknowledges that having destinations nearby is essential for getting more people walking, but she adds to this several other key qualities of walkable urban neighbourhoods:
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Connections – a fine grained network of sidewalks and footpaths with plenty of intersections;
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Tissue – Great architecture with small human-sized buildings, not big boxes!
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Density – of housing and population;
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Streetscape – well designed streets with wide sidewalks and crossings, that are easy and safe to walk in;
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Green networks – plenty of street trees and green spaces.
But these key factors aren’t just the personal preferences of the author, instead they are derived from detailed studies of 12 walkable neighbourhoods in the US and Canada, which are described using beautiful panoramic street-level photography and geo-analysis.
