The Link Between Walkable Neighborhoods and Race

Walkability is not only good for you: It’s a highly desired characteristic of housing and neighborhoods. I’ve written before about the connection between walkable neighborhoods and higher housing values, reduced rates of violent crime, obesity, premature death and long-term memory loss, as well as higher levels of creativity and civic engagement. But a recent study from California Polytechnic State University’s William Riggs reminds us that not all urbanites have the same kind of access to walkable streets and neighborhoods. The study, which focuses on the San Francisco Bay Area, finds a considerable racial divide when it comes to access to walkability, with black residents much less likely to live in the area’s walkable neighborhoods.

The study looked at the connection between race and walkability through two lenses. The first, quantitative lens combines data from WalkScore with U.S. Census data and a 2000 San Francisco Bay Area Transit Survey (BATS) of more than 15,000 Bay Area residents. In the map below, taken from the report, green dots represent walkable neighborhoods, yellow dots represent semi-walkable neighborhoods, and red dots represent the least walkable neighborhoods. As would be expected, the most walkable neighborhoods are concentrated near the center of San Francisco, in San Mateo, and in parts of Berkeley.