HOW WALKABLE IS YOUR COMMUNITY

Walkability Checklist

Everyone benefits from walking. But walking needs to be safe and easy. Take a walk with your child and use this checklist to decide if your neighborhood is a friendly place to walk. If you find problems, there are ways you can make things better.

Getting started: Pick a place to walk, like the route to school, a friend's house, or just somewhere fun to go. Read over the checklist before you go, and as you walk, note the locations of things you would like to change. At the end of your walk, circle an overall rating for each question. Then add up the numbers to see how you rated your walk.

Rating scale	1 =awful	4 = good
	2 = many problems	5 = very good
	3 = some problems	6 = excellent

1.Did you have enough room to walk safely?

Yes	Some problems:
	___ Sidewalks or paths started and stopped
	___ Sidewalks were broken or cracked
	___ Sidewalks were blocked with poles, signs, dumpsters, etc.
	___ No sidewalks, paths, or shoulders
	___ Too much traffic
	___ Something else?_____________________________

Locations of problems:_________________________

2.Was it easy to cross streets?

Yes	Some problems:
	___ Road was too wide
	___ Traffic signals made us wait too long or did not give us enough time to cross
	___ Needed striped crosswalks or traffic signals
	___ Parked cars blocked our view of traffic
	___ Trees or plants blocked our view of traffic
	___ Needed curb ramps or ramps needed repair
	___ Something else?________________________________

Locations of problems:__________________________

3.Did drivers behave well?

Yes	Some problems: Drivers ...
	___ Backed out of driveways without looking
	___ Did not yield to people crossing street
	___ Turned into people crossing streets
	___ Drove too fast
	___ Sped up to make it through traffic lights or drove through red lights
	___ Something else?________________________________

Locations of problems:________________________

4.Was it easy to follow safety rules?

Could you and your child ...
Yes	No
	Cross at crosswalks or where you could see and be seen by drivers?
	Stop and look left, right, and left again before crossing streets?
	Walk on sidewalks, or shoulders (if no sidewalks), facing traffic?
	Cross with the light?

Locations of problems:____________________________

5.Was your walk pleasant?

Yes	Some unpleasant things:
	___ Needs more grass, flowers, or trees
	___ Scary dogs
	___ Suspicious activity
	___ Not well lit
	___ Dirty, lots of litter or trash
	___ Something else?____________________________

Locations of problems:________________________

How does your neighborhood stack up? Add up your ratings and decide.

1___

2___

3___

4___

5___

(      ) = total

How did your neighborhood rate?

	26 - 30	Celebrate! You have a great neighborhood for walking.
	21 - 25	Celebrate a little. Your neighborhood is pretty good.
	16 - 20	Okay, but it needs work.
	11 - 15	It needs lots of work. You deserve better than that.
	5 - 10	Call out the National Guard before you walk. It's a disaster area.

Did You Find Something
That Needs to be Changed?

The next page has suggestions for making neighborhoods better places for walking that match up with the problems you identified.

During your walk how did you feel physically? Could you go as far or as fast as you wanted? Were you short of breath, tired, or did you have sore feet or muscles? The next page also has suggestions about walking for exercise.