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Through years of study and experimentation, walkability advocates have determined the most important characteristics of walkable communities. Walkable communities:

  • Have a mix of land uses. Places to live, work, play, shop, learn, eat, and worship are walkable distances to one another.

  • Have a well-maintained and continuous network of pedestrian facilities. These include linked networks of sidewalks, crosswalks, and multi-use trails between destinations.

  • Reward/do not punish those who travel by foot. Walking routes should be aesthetically pleasing and comfortable with benches, shade, and restroom access.

  • Should be and feel safe and accessible for all. Safety and accessibility factors include the continuity and quality of sidewalks, distance between quality road crossings, appropriate lane widths, enforced speed limits, curb ramps on sidewalks, and corner radii that reduce car speeds around intersection corners.

 

Similarly, bicycling advocates and traffic engineers have identified the most important design principles of bikeable communities. These share some similarities with the characteristics of walkable communities, only they are bicycle-specific. The following principles come from the CROW Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic (2016) published by CROW, a non-profit agency advising the government of the Netherlands, which is the gold standard country for walkability and bikeability. The CROW Design Manual is the most influential bicycle traffic planning manual worldwide. 

  • Cohesion means the possibility of getting somewhere by bicycle. Bicycle friendly infrastructure should form a cohesive whole and link all the origins and destinations that cyclists may have.

  • Directness means offering the cyclist as direct a route as possible with detours kept to a minimum.

  • Safety in this context refers to both road safety and personal health: reducing stress and minimizing the exposure to pollutants and noise. For bicycle infrastructure to adhere to the safety design principle, it should strive to avoid differences in speed and mass as much as possible by segregating different vehicle types by providing solitary cycle lanes or using physical barriers. It should also ensure that cyclists have dedicated spaces on ramps, bridges, tunnels, and other narrow transition points.

  • Comfort means that that cyclists experience minimal stops or nuisance. It is important to plan links that provide direct connections and avoid detours, noise and exhaust fumes.

  • Attractiveness means planning links through green areas or open spaces and avoiding industrial parks and congested areas.

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Here are some additional resources on walkable and bikeable community design:

https://www.useful-community-development.org/bikeable-community.html

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