By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
Your proximity to a bus stop, the diversity of nearby businesses and the size of blocks in your neighborhood could have implications for your health, a new study from Michigan State University found.
It’s generally agreed that walking is good for your health, being linked to better cardiovascular health and reduced risk for heart disease.
In turn, past studies have shown how a community’s walkability – how easy it is to get around on foot – can be connected with increased physical activity and lower obesity rates.
Hamtramck ranks as Michigan’s most walkable community, while Midland is working to make itself more walkable.
What remains to be fully understood is how individual factors of walkability such as population density, zoning diversity and access to public transit affect people’s health.
That’s what professor Fatemeh Saeidi-Rizi, the principal investigator at the HealthScape Lab at MSU, and Ph.D. student Musab Wedyan sought to accomplish in their study published in the journal Travel Behaviour and Society.
“We thought to go and look at some areas and work with numbers to bring more proof for policymakers, for people who can have an impact on making cities more walkable,” said Saeidi-Rizi.
Saeidi-Rizi and Wedyan identified an area’s walkability using the National Walkability Index – a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency database that ranks locations by their relative walkability.
Then, the researchers used a machine learning algorithm – a formula – to identify a relationship between walkability and health in the same areas, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The results? The density of street intersections – corresponding closely to the size of blocks in the area – had the greatest impact on obesity.
Variations in business type in an area and distance to public transit stops were also factors – although with less impact.
Mental health was also affected by these factors, with intersection density again having the largest impact.
Notably, non-walkability-related factors like socioeconomic status and race had larger impacts on health than any walkability factors.
Although the study has limitations – it’s missing some data from rural areas and relies on a single index as the sole measure of walkability – its finding can hopefully encourage communities to adopt more walkable designs, Saeidi-Rizi said.
“The way we design cities in the U.S. is different than in Europe,” Saeidi-Rizi said. “Even though they are trying to move toward walkability, it’s still a long way to get there.”
Several Metro Detroit communities are among the top 10 in WalkScore.com’s ranking of Michigan’s 65 largest municipalities: Detroit ranks 16th.
At the bottom of the list is Forest Hills, an unincorporated community outside Grand Rapids.
Hamtramck tops the list of communities in the state, with a WalkScore of 82.
Hamtramck’s exceptional walkability is partially due to its small size – 2.2 square miles accommodating over 27,000 people.
Thus it’s easy to walk across, said Isabel Allaway, the city’s community and economic development manager.
The city has been making intentional decisions to improve walkability.
For example, it allows a combination of residential and commercial spaces in its central business district and multi-use district, Allaway said.
Additionally, residents can apply for special land use permits – further integrating commercial spaces in residential areas.
“I work with residents who want to open up a corner store on the ground floor of their home,” Allaway said.
The city is also looking to transform an alleyway into a path for pedestrians and cyclists that can also host businesses – a project funded with $891,300 from the Department of Natural Resources.
Although Hamtramck holds the title of Michigan’s most walkable community, many residents rely on cars to get around the city and beyond, Allaway said.
“We definitely feel friction between walkability and between being a very car- dependent city as well,” she said.
One hundred miles to the northwest, officials in Midland – ranked 47th on the WalkScore list – are looking to make their community more walkable.
Better infrastructure for walking and biking was the top concern voiced by citizens while the city was developing its most recent master plan, said Jacob Kain, the assistant city manager for development services.
Increasing walkability is a two-pronged effort that involves improving or creating new infrastructure like sidewalks, bike paths and crosswalks while also giving people reasons to walk, Kain said.
“We’ve had goals around creating those walkable areas of commercial activity so folks can get to a grocery store on foot, satisfy some of their basic needs without needing to get into a car,” he said.
Plans to continue redeveloping Midland’s downtown and Saginaw Road streetscapes were included in the city planning commission’s recently recommended capital improvement plan.
The city is also updating its zoning code to provide more opportunities for mixed-use development, Kain said.
Additionally, the city has proposed to begin replacing old sidewalks next year – a project Kain said would cost half a million dollars and replace two-and-a-half miles of pavement.