Leisure walkers walk in their own neighborhood

Richard Suminski and Jason Wasserman and Carlene Mayfield and Arthur Kheyfets and Jared Norman, "Walking During Leisure-Time in Relation to Perceived Neighborhoods," Environment and Behavior 47 (2015): 7

The take-away: This study provides evidence to support the assumption that individuals who walk during leisure-time do so mostly within their own neighborhood. 

Abstract

Are researchers correct to assume individuals who walk during leisure-time do so mostly in their neighborhood? To address this question, we examined relationships between leisure-time walking and boundaries of participant- and researcher-defined neighborhoods. Door-to-door interviews were completed with 415 adults residing in a Midwestern, U.S. city. Participants self- reported physical activity and drew on a map their perceived neighborhoods and their typical leisure-time walking routes. We found that 134 participants walked in their neighborhoods at least once during the past week on the route they drew. Routes were used for 82.9% of the leisure-time walks and 67.9% of the route was within perceived neighborhood boundaries. Almost all of the routes (98.2%) were within a straight-line 2,000 m buffer around participants’ homes. The present study suggests leisure-time walking is neighborhood-based and certain researcher-defined areas are adequate when exploring this behavior. Route characteristics described in this study may have implications for initiatives promoting neighborhood walking.

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