Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs
Define "walkability."
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I think that's the crux of it. There have been a couple different definitions used so far with some people implying that walkability is mostly just the physical ability to walk while others suggesting that it's an inviting/safe/appealing area to walk.
My view is that we need to consider why and when people walk if we want to answer what is walkable. On its face, walking is purely a form of transportation, but in reality, many people walk in whole or in part for other reason. There's a common phrase, "going for a walk" which implies someone walking for the sake of it such as to get exercise, reduce stress, sight see, or just for basic pleasure. So walking can be done for reasons other than transportation. But it stands to reason that if people get other benefits from walking, they may at times want to combine those things with transportation. In other words, choosing to use it as transportation because it also yields other benefits. It's been a long time since most people in the global north had to walking as transportation. There's almost always an alternative whether it be transit, cars, bikes or other. So the most walkable places are the best at competing with the alternatives when it comes to transportation. Whatever the alternatives may be in a particular setting.
So if a walkable area is one that people find walking appealing for all the various reasons people tend to walk, then using a utilitarian concept of walkability such as distance between destinations would be incomplete. It would be like saying there's no such thing as an unwatchable TV show as long as the show contains video and audio that people can physically look at regardless of how good or bad it is. If so, a show with nothing but dogs crapping on the side of the road would be just as watchable as an impeccably written TV series. But most people would say that the former is unwatchable because it not only doesn't attract you to watch it, but in fact repels you. Just like walking in certain pedestrian-hostile environments (dense tho they may be).
But I do agree with Doady in that density is probably the single biggest factor. I just assign greater importance to some of the other factors than he seems to.