Quote:
Originally Posted by calculoso
As a parent, I wouldn't want a 7-11 in walking distance.. Too much sugar and expense!! 
Even though the crazy mazes exist, there still are walk paths between one maze point and another. People can walk, bike, etc through the neighborhood much easier than drive. |
Although hulkrogan doesn't speak to it, the other issue is having somewhere to walk
to.
"Walkability" means more than just having the ability to walk aimlessly through the neighbourhood possibly while walking the dog or in an effort to just get out of the house and get exercise. It means having the amenities necessary for living day-to-day life to be within walking distance and to be reasonably accessible to the pedestrian. On the most basic level, this means groceries, a drug store and green/park space, and can be expanded a little to a sit-down restaurant, hardware store and clothing store.
Check out the "walk score" site. Pretty interesting.
http://www.walkscore.com/
To calculate your "score" they include in their criteria: Transit, Grocery Stores, Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Bars, Cinemas, Parks, Libraries, Bookstores, Fitness, Drug Stores, Hardware Stores, Clothing & Music
Now the methodology is a bit choppy since it just uses whatever is in Google Earth, which doesn't always indicate reality. Nevertheless, it should still give you a good illustration of the concept.
Many newer communities in Calgary (what many might classify as "sprawl") do very poorly at "walkability." Believe it or not though, one much-maligned community that actually does a decent job (relative to its contemporaries) is Mackenzie Towne. Still not the greatest though. It is a difficult thing to achieve, especially once density is reduced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by calculoso
It's even more ridiculous if there are 2 breadwinners in the family.
We deliberately chose our current house to be close to my wife's work, since she hates to drive, and farther from mine since I don't mind driving. Neither one of our businesses are anywhere close to the downtown, and thus we have no reason to head there.
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This is a valid point and the two-or-more-people-working-in-different-places situation cannot be ignored, because it is common. I think it forces a lot of people to make difficult decisions when choosing where to live.