CALGARY- The city has gotten a failing grade when it comes to walkability.
Seattle-based Walk Score looks at how easy it is to live a ‘car-lite’ lifestyle, by judging the distance to amenities.
They looked at Canada’s top 10 cities, and Calgary came dead last, with a score of only 48 out of 100.
“It’s disappointing, obviously not where we want to be,” says Mac Logan, GM of transportation for the city of Calgary. “The relationship between residential and retail is very car dependent, and we have to mix those a little better and that is going to come as we redevelop the inner city.”
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Councillor Brian Pincott agrees.
“What we have is essentially a car dependent, fairly heavily urban-sprawled city,” he says. “We, for the last 50 years, have been building a city focused around a car.”
Logan says the city needs to understand the fundamental reasons that people are driving instead of walking, taking public transit or riding bikes, and says there is not much they can do at the moment to impact density.
“What we can do is put in more sidewalks and improve pedestrian connectivity, and make sure that we give pedestrians an advantage when we can.”
Vancouver topped the list in the largest Canadian cities category, followed by Toronto, Montreal and Mississauga.
Walk Score’s ranking of the top 10 largest Canadian cities is:
1. Vancouver (Walk Score: 78)
2. Toronto (Walk Score: 71)
3. Montreal (Walk Score: 70)
4. Mississauga (Walk Score: 59)
5. Ottawa (Walk Score: 54)
6. Winnipeg (Walk Score: 53)
7. Edmonton (Walk Score: 51)
8. Hamilton (Walk Score: 51)
9. Brampton (Walk Score: 48)
10. Calgary (Walk Score: 48)
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