“Smart Cities, Healthy Kids” Saskatoon Neighbourhood Walkability Reports

This is a collection of the reports from the Smart Cities, Healthy Kids research project:

“The Smart Cities, Healthy Kids research project looks for solutions to childhood  obesity by investigating how neighbourhood design affects children’s ability to be physically active. Research suggests that safety from traffic and crime, the presence of destinations and built features supporting an active lifestyle (eg.
parks, playgrounds, and bike lanes), a neighbourhood’s attractiveness, and its
accessibility are all very important in determining whether people will be active there. To determine which Saskatoon neighbourhood designs are the most supportive of active living, researchers walked each neighbourhood in Saskatoon in the summer months of 2009/2010, collecting data on these areas using two research surveys: the Neighbourhood Active Living Potential (NALP) and the Irvine-Minnesota Inventory (IMI).

NALP consists of 22 items within four areas: Activity Friendliness, Safety, Density of Destinations, and Universal Accessibility. Using this method, observers rated each item on a 6-point scale after walking a pre-defined route in each neighbourhood that connected 10 randomly-selected street segments. The route, typically 4 to 5 kilometres in length, is shown in red on the map.

IMI consists of a 229-item inventory of neighbourhood features within five areas: Attractiveness, Diversity of Destinations, Pedestrian Access, Safety from Traffic, and Safety from Crime. Twenty percent of street segments in each  neighbourhood were randomly selected and observed. Each segment is the two facing sides of a street block and is indicated by a numbered flag on the map.

The NALP tool is more subjective in nature and it takes into account the impression of the entire neighbourhood based on the systematic observations of the researchers. In contrast, the IMI is more objective in nature and is based on observations of each individual segment.”

Willows

Willowgrove

Wildwood

Westview

Westmount

Varsity View

University Heights Suburban Center

Sutherland

Stonebridge

Silverwood Heights

Silverspring

Riversdale

River Heights

Richmond Heights

Queen Elizabeth

Pleasant Hill

Parkridge

Pacific Heights

Nutana

Nutana Suburban Centre

Nutana Park

North Park

Mount Royal

Montgomery Place

Meadowgreen

Mayfair

Massey Place

Lawson Suburban Centre

Lawson Heights

Lakewood Suburban Centre

Lakeview

Lakeridge

King George

Kelsey-Woodlawn

Hudson Bay Park

Holliston

Holiday Park

Haultain

Hampton Village

Grovesnor Park

Greystone Heights

Forest Grove

Fairhaven

Exhibition

Erindale

Eastview

Dundonald

Confederation Suburban Centre

Confederation Park

College Park

College Park East

City Park

Downtown

Caswell Hill

Buena Vista

Briarwood

Brevoort Park

Avalon

Arbor Creek

Adelaide-Churchill