Assessing Neighbourhood Active, Healthy Design: A Checklist Analysis

This assignment presents a comprehensive analysis of a neighbourhood's active and healthy design, utilizing a detailed checklist to evaluate various aspects of the community's infrastructure and environment. The assessment covers key areas such as walking routes, connectivity, proximity to amenities, aesthetics, and safety features. The analysis involves a physical walkthrough of the neighbourhood, documenting observations and rating each section based on predefined criteria. The study identifies strengths, such as well-maintained sidewalks and a grid pattern of streets, while also pointing out areas for improvement, like the need for more plants and flowers to enhance aesthetics. The final score, derived from summing the ratings of each section, provides an overall assessment of the neighbourhood's support for active, healthy living, offering insights for potential community enhancements. The assignment emphasizes the importance of urban planning and design in promoting a healthy lifestyle and creating a livable environment for residents.

2) Neighbourhood active, healthy design checklist•
“Active, healthy community design” means making local environments supportive of walking, cycling and other
aspects of active living. This includes things like locating homes within walking distance of workplaces, shops and
schools, providing efficient and well-maintained walking and cycling routes, ensuring access to recreational
facilities, parks and trails and making sure children have safe routes to school and good outdoor play areas.
Go for a walk with this checklist to see how
well your neighbourhood supports active,
healthy living. Take notes along the way to
document any problems with getting around
without a car and being active in your neigh-
bourhood. You can also take pictures if you
have a camera. When you’re finished, add up
the ratings for each section to get your neigh-
bourhood’s active, healthy design score.
Walking route
(Where did you walk (i.e., starting point,
end point, streets taken)?
116th street Avenue is a neighbourhood to walk
and the area is divided into sub areas that are 94
94A and 96 blocks. The walking area is the 94A
to 94. The walking rout is comprised of side
walks and made it easy to walk without any
hassle.
Connectivity
Check off all that apply, then fill in the overall
connectivity rating.
The neighbourhood is connected with key
destinations (like shopping and services)
by sidewalks and/or walkways, which are:
present on both sides of the street.
continuous (they don’t suddenly
stop).
in good repair.
wide enough for two or three people to
walk side by side.
clear of obstacles such as bushes
and garbage.
easily navigated with
wheelchairs or strollers.
Streets in your neighbourhood have a “grid
pattern” with short blocks that make routes
more direct.
Culs-de-sac and other more circular
streets are linked by pedestrian walkways
(“connectors”).
Bike paths and lanes connect the
neighbourhood with key destinations,
and:
bike paths and lanes are well marked.
bike racks are available.
Public transit service connects the neigh-
bourhood with key destinations, and:
stops are within easy walking
distance of homes.
transit service is frequent.
bus shelters are provided at stops.
buses are equipped with racks for
transporting bikes.
Notes:q
The neighbourhood is well designed and
properly well maintained for the health and
well being maintenance as well. However,
there are some changes required for
improvement of the situation.
Connectivity rating
(please select one)
1 2 3
Poor Good Excellent

* Adapted from the walkON “How walkable is your community?" checklist.
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Proximity and access to amenities
Check off all that apply, then fill in the overall
proximity/access rating.
There are enough people living in the
neighbourhood to support a variety of
businesses and services.
Homes are within walking distance
of:
shopping.
grocery store.
services (e.g., doctor, dentist,
bank).
schools.
parks and playgrounds.
recreation facilities (e.g., tennis courts,
public pool, skating rink, soccer field).
workplaces.
There is a mix of homes, businesses,
stores and schools in the neighbourhood.
There are different styles of housing
(apart-ments, townhomes, single family) in
the neighbourhood.
Notes:
This is a well-planned neighbourhood and almost
everything near the houses made the condition of
the health and well being of the people easy.
Proximity and access to amenities rating
(please select one)
1 2 3
Poor Goo d Exce llent
Aesthetics
Check off all that apply, then fill in the overall
aesthetics rating.
The walking route is attractive
and pleasant.
The walking route is not broken up by
lots of vacant space (e.g., parking
lots, empty buildings).
The landscaping is attractive (e.g.,
trees and flowers).
There are benches and other places
to rest along the walking route.
There are interesting things to look at
along the way.
Stores in the neighbourhood are gener-
ally occupied and well maintained.
Notes:
The walking rout is well maintained and properly
planned. However, if there are plants and flowers
present in greater numbers the condition would be
more pleasant.
Aesthetics rating
(please select one)
1 2 3
Poor Goo d Exce llent

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Safety
Check off all that apply, then fill in the overall
safety rating.
Pedestrian crossings are well marked,
and signals allow enough time to
cross the street.
There are enough pedestrian crossings
(you don’t have to cross mid-block or go
too far out of your way to cross the
street).
Street signs are visible at all intersections.
Cars obey traffic rules and the set speed
limit.
Sidewalks are separated from the road
by grass, trees and/or pavement.
Bike lanes and paths are separated
from other traffic.
Walking routes are well lit at night.
Cycling routes are well lit at night.
There are “eyes on the street”(e.g.,
people out and about, houses that face
the street and not too many high walls,
fences or garages lining the walking
route).
Notes:
The walking route is comprised with all the
possible positive factors of well being and safety
of people.
Safety rating
(please select one)
1 2 3
Poor Good Excellent
Active, healthy community design score:
Is your neighbourhood designed to support
active, healthy living?
Add up the rating for each section to get the
final score for your neighbourhood:
__8____ Connectivity
___7___ Proximity and access to amenities
___5___ Aesthetics
__10____ Safety
__30____ Total active, healthy community
design score
What does the score mean?
10-12 Celebrate! Your neighbourhood
makes active, healthy living easy.
8-9 Pretty good. It generally supports
active, healthy living, but there’s
room for improvement.
5-7 Mixed results. There are some
supports for active, healthy living,
but also some gaps.
4 Not great. Very low support for
everyday active, healthy living — time
for some changes!
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