Neighborhood Walkability Assessments

How walkable is your neighborhood?

Can you get to common destinations on foot, such as the grocery store, the park, the library, or school?
Are there continuous, shaded sidewalks for safe, comfortable, and accessible walking trips?
Can you safely cross major streets? Can your elderly neighbor and the kid next door do so?

These are all great questions and a truly walkable neighborhood requires a “yes” to all of them.

Presenting: our Neighborhood Walkability Assessment Program, a program for the Tucson region to address pedestrian safety and comfort issues, while helping residents identify walkability improvements needed in their neighborhoods. Our program engages participants in an open discussion about the walking conditions in their neighborhoods and provides an opportunity to:

discuss what “walkability” means and what makes a good place for walking.
share ideas about walkability improvements you’d like to see in your neighborhood.
connect with fellow neighbors.
explore and document the current neighborhood walking conditions and gain an additional perspective on your neighborhood streets.

Neighborhood Walkability Assessments also help promote walking, highlight the importance of creating safe, comfortable, accessible, and enjoyable places to walk throughout, and increase public awareness of our mission of creating great streets for every one of us.

How it works

Each Neighborhood Walkability Assessment has two components:

1) Walkability Workshop

Presentation and discussion of what makes a good pedestrian environment followed by hands-on mapping exercises to identify walking destinations, walkability assets and challenges, and the locations for improvements that would make the neighborhood more pedestrian-friendly.

2) Neighborhood Walk & Talk

Group walk and facilitated discussion to observe and discuss existing walking conditions and improvements that can potentially enhance the walkability of each block.

Following each assessment, LSA prepares a report highlighting the major findings, including additional steps residents can take to make their neighborhoods better places to walk. The report serves as a baseline document for planning, prioritizing, and implementing future walkability improvements, preparing neighborhoods to take advantage of regional pedestrian funding as it becomes available. The reports are shared with the relevant transportation departments, ward offices, or county supervisory district offices, depending on the neighborhood location.

If you’re interested in having LSA host a Neighborhood Walking Assessment in your neighborhood, or for more information, please contact us. Meantime, click on the links below to see the results of completed assessments.