Benefits of Walkability
Safety
Making roads safer for people walking ultimately makes roads safer for everyone. When streets are designed with pedestrians in mind, through measures like lower speeds and safer roadway environments, crashes are less likely to be fatal. Walking also helps reduce how much time people spend in cars, which lowers overall crash risk.
Health
When more people choose walking and other active ways of getting around, it can help clean the air and reduce noise by cutting down on car trips. And the act of walking itself delivers major health benefits, such as improving strength, flexibility, heart and lung health, joint support, bone density, sleep, and even helping manage weight, stress, and overall mental well-being.
Social Equity
Over the past 50 years, sprawl has pushed homes, jobs, and daily needs farther apart, making it harder or even impossible for many people to walk or get around anywhere. These patterns hit low-income communities and communities of color the hardest. Creating walkable neighborhoods is one way to begin correcting that inequity and give everyone safer, easier access to the places they need.
Environment
Walking is one of the easiest ways to help the environment. It creates zero greenhouse gas emissions, unlike driving, which is the nation’s largest source of them. Every trip you take on foot or by public transit instead of in a personal car cuts pollution, and even small shifts make a real difference.
Transportation
Walking is essential to a transportation system that actually works. Nearly a third of all car trips in the U.S. are a mile or less—a quick 20-minute walk. Shifting even some of those trips from cars to sidewalks would ease traffic, free up parking, and solve a lot of our everyday transportation headaches.
Economy
Better sidewalks and safer, more people-friendly streets don’t just look good, they boost local economies. Communities that invest in mobility-forward, bike-friendly streets see higher rents, rising property values, and new businesses moving in.
