Input is critical to creating and sustaining a walkable environment. But walkability is in the eyes of the beholder. Opinions on what walkability means can vary from person to person and community to community.
To get a better sense of how people define walkability in communities around the country, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, America Walks and Hunter College developed a National Walking Survey. Designed to help walking advocates understand what motivates avid walkers and what keeps others from walking more, this national survey was open to the public from April to June 2011. More than 7,000 people responded, and the results are now in!
Some significant findings from the survey: 77% are avid walkers; 88% of frequent walkers live in a 
walkable neighborhood; more than 70% walk to maintain good health; and 51% walk to get to a specific destination, such as work, school, or a store.
The survey also noted that among infrequent walkers, a higher percentage cited “neighborhood” factors (e.g., not enough sidewalks, speeding motor vehicles) rather than “personal” factors (e.g., not enough time) as reasons for not walking. Additionally, a large percentage of respondents noted infrastructure as a problem.
To see if the National Walking Survey findings represent your take on walkability, check out the America Walks website to read the final report and review the original survey tool.
As the survey findings suggests, a walkable community is an important factor in how often we walk. It follows that the creation of more walkable communities will result in more walkers.
But what needs to be done to create more walkable communities? Is there a way to identify and define what makes a community walkable?
Nearly a year ago, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) introduced its Walk Friendly Communities (WFC) program to encourage safer walking environments. In April 2011, WFC announced the results of its inaugural round of recognition, honoring 11 communities nationwide for improving walkability and pedestrian safety.
Arlington County was among the 11 communities recognized and one of only four to receive Gold Level
designation during this first round! Just last week, the results of the second round of Walk Friendly Communities recognition were announced, and Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Francisco have joined Arlington in the Gold Level category.
Arlington County's pedestrian initiatives like WalkArlington and activities and encouragement programs like Walkabouts and the Car-Free Diet were cited among the many reasons the County was awarded Gold Level WFC designation. Another reason why Arlington received this honor is the County’s trademark responsiveness to community input – in this case, input regarding pedestrian safety and walkability.
This gets us back to the topic at hand – survey input and results. The National Walking Survey reflects input from walkers across the nation. Last summer, WalkArlington conducted a local walking survey, which was administered by Arlington County Commuter Services and the Southeastern Institute of Research over six weeks, both online and at trail intercepts around the County.
The results of the WalkArlington survey will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, thanks to those of you who took the time to respond to either or both of these surveys. Let us know if you think the survey results released to date match your footprint by contacting info@walkarlington.com, subject line: Survey.
Lauren Hassel
WalkArlington, an initiative of Arlington County Commuter Services within the Department of Environmental Services, gets "more people walking more of the time" by promoting the health, environmental, community-building, and commuting benefits of walking
