IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v8y2011i11p4160-4179d14671.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Validation of Walk Score ® for Estimating Neighborhood Walkability: An Analysis of Four US Metropolitan Areas

Author

Listed:
  • Dustin T. Duncan

    (Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity, Harvard School of Public Health, 401 Park Drive, Landmark Center, 4th Floor West, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Jared Aldstadt

    (Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, 105 Wilkeson Quad, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA)

  • John Whalen

    (Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, 105 Wilkeson Quad, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA)

  • Steven J. Melly

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 401 Park Drive, Landmark Center, 4th Floor West, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Steven L. Gortmaker

    (Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity, Harvard School of Public Health, 401 Park Drive, Landmark Center, 4th Floor West, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

Abstract

Neighborhood walkability can influence physical activity. We evaluated the validity of Walk Score ® for assessing neighborhood walkability based on GIS (objective) indicators of neighborhood walkability with addresses from four US metropolitan areas with several street network buffer distances ( i.e. , 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meters). Address data come from the YMCA-Harvard After School Food and Fitness Project, an obesity prevention intervention involving children aged 5–11 years and their families participating in YMCA-administered, after-school programs located in four geographically diverse metropolitan areas in the US (n = 733). GIS data were used to measure multiple objective indicators of neighborhood walkability. Walk Scores were also obtained for the participant’s residential addresses. Spearman correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators were calculated as well as Spearman correlations accounting for spatial autocorrelation. There were many significant moderate correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators such as density of retail destinations and intersection density (p ® is free and publicly available for public health researchers and practitioners. Results from our study suggest that Walk Score ® is a valid measure of estimating certain aspects of neighborhood walkability, particularly at the 1600-meter buffer. As such, our study confirms and extends the generalizability of previous findings demonstrating that Walk Score is a valid measure of estimating neighborhood walkability in multiple geographic locations and at multiple spatial scales.

Suggested Citation

  • Dustin T. Duncan & Jared Aldstadt & John Whalen & Steven J. Melly & Steven L. Gortmaker, 2011. "Validation of Walk Score ® for Estimating Neighborhood Walkability: An Analysis of Four US Metropolitan Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-20, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:8:y:2011:i:11:p:4160-4179:d:14671
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/11/4160/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/11/4160/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael, Y.L. & Perdue, L.A. & Orwoll, E.S. & Stefanick, M.L. & Marshall, L.M., 2010. "Physical activity resources and changes in walking in a cohort of older men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(4), pages 654-660.
    2. Anselin, Luc, 2002. "Under the hood : Issues in the specification and interpretation of spatial regression models," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 247-267, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dustin T. Duncan & Farzana Kapadia & Perry N. Halkitis, 2014. "Examination of Spatial Polygamy among Young Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in New York City: The P18 Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Barbara B. Brown & Wyatt A. Jensen, 2020. "Dog Ownership and Walking: Perceived and Audited Walkability and Activity Correlates," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Ye Sun & Wei Lu & Peijin Sun, 2021. "Optimization of Walk Score Based on Street Greening—A Case Study of Zhongshan Road in Qingdao," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Zhang, Jilu & Guxue, Kaicheng, 2024. "Fostering sustainability: Exploring natural resources, mineral resources, and their impact on carbon reduction, economic growth," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Bradley Bereitschaft, 2023. "The changing ethno-racial profile of ‘very walkable’ urban neighbourhoods in the US (2010–2020): Are minorities under-represented?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(4), pages 638-654, March.
    6. Zhang, Zhehao & Wang, Haiming & Fisher, Thomas, 2024. "The development, validation, and application of the campus walk score measurement system," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 40-54.
    7. Maren Reyer & Stefan Fina & Stefan Siedentop & Wolfgang Schlicht, 2014. "Walkability is Only Part of the Story: Walking for Transportation in Stuttgart, Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Eun Jung Kim & Jiyeong Kim & Hyunjung Kim, 2020. "Does Environmental Walkability Matter? The Role of Walkable Environment in Active Commuting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
    9. Yibang Zhang & Yukun Zou & Zhenjun Zhu & Xiucheng Guo & Xin Feng, 2022. "Evaluating Pedestrian Environment Using DeepLab Models Based on Street Walkability in Small and Medium-Sized Cities: Case Study in Gaoping, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-23, November.
    10. Richard R. Suminski & Gregory M. Dominick & Eric Plautz, 2019. "Validation of the Block Walk Method for Assessing Physical Activity occurring on Sidewalks/Streets," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-14, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haoying Wang & Guohui Wu, 2022. "Modeling discrete choices with large fine-scale spatial data: opportunities and challenges," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 325-351, July.
    2. Liv Osland & Inge Thorsen, 2013. "Spatial Impacts, Local Labour Market Characteristics and Housing Prices," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(10), pages 2063-2083, August.
    3. Breisinger, Clemens & Ecker, Olivier & Funes, Jose & Yu, Bingxin, 2010. "Food as the basis for development and security: A strategy for Yemen," IFPRI discussion papers 1036, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. repec:rri:wpaper:200711 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Fang Di & Richards Timothy J. & Grebitus Carola, 2019. "Modeling Product Choices in a Peer Network," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 22(1), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Montmartin, Benjamin & Herrera, Marcos & Massard, Nadine, 2018. "The impact of the French policy mix on business R&D: How geography matters," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 2010-2027.
    7. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    8. Huang, Wei, 2019. "Forest condition change, tenure reform, and government-funded eco-environmental programs in Northeast China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 67-74.
    9. K.P. Gluschenko (glu@nsu.ru ), 2010. "Income inequality in Russian regions: comparative analysis," Journal "Region: Economics and Sociology", Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering of Siberian Branch of RAS, vol. 4.
    10. Nik Stoop & Marijke Verpoorten & Peter van der Windt, 2018. "More Legislation, More Violence? The Impact of Dodd-Frank in the DRC," SALDRU Working Papers 231, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    11. repec:asg:wpaper:1048 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Roger Bivand, 2008. "Implementing Representations Of Space In Economic Geography," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-27, February.
    13. repec:asg:wpaper:1006 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Tony H. Grubesic & Kelly M. Durbin, 2022. "Breastfeeding, Community Vulnerability, Resilience, and Disasters: A Snapshot of the United States Gulf Coast," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, September.
    15. Licia Ferranna & Margherita Gerolimetto & Stefano Magrini, 2016. "The effect of immigration on convergence dynamics in the US," Working Papers 2016:27, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    16. Lin, Joanne Yuh-Jye & Jenelius, Erik & Cebecauer, Matej & Rubensson, Isak & Chen, Cynthia, 2023. "The equity of public transport crowding exposure," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    17. Richards, Timothy J. & Acharya, Ram N. & Kagan, Albert, 2008. "Spatial competition and market power in banking," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 436-454.
    18. Laura Resmini & Laura Casi, 2013. "Spatial complexity and interactions in regions' FDI attractiveness," ERSA conference papers ersa13p1063, European Regional Science Association.
    19. Kere, Eric Nazindigouba & Choumert, Johanna & Combes Motel, Pascale & Combes, Jean Louis & Santoni, Olivier & Schwartz, Sonia, 2017. "Addressing Contextual and Location Biases in the Assessment of Protected Areas Effectiveness on Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazônia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 148-158.
    20. David Maddison, 2009. "A Spatio‐temporal Model of Farmland Values," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 171-189, February.
    21. Jamie Bologna, 2017. "Contagious corruption, informal employment, and income: evidence from Brazilian municipalities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 58(1), pages 67-118, January.
    22. Cletus C. Coughlin & Thomas A. Garrett & Ruben Hernandez-Murillo, 2004. "Spatial probit and the geographic patterns of state lotteries," Working Papers 2003-042, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    23. Cheng, Mei-luan & Bills, Nelson L. & Francis, Joseph, 2006. "Historical and Spatial Analysis of High-Value Crop Production in the U.S," Working Papers 127063, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:8:y:2011:i:11:p:4160-4179:d:14671. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.