Skip to content
LotLens

How walkable is your neighborhood? The 15-minute test

A neighborhood is walkable when daily errands are a short walk away: groceries, a transit stop, a park, a school, childcare, a doctor, a cafe. The common test is the 15-minute neighborhood: how much of daily life lies within 15 minutes on foot, and how much within 5.

Updated . General information, not legal advice: the city’s code and its planning staff decide for your lot.

What counts

Walkability measures differ in detail but ask the same question: how far is the nearest grocery store, transit stop, park, school or doctor, and how many lie within reach. Groceries and transit usually weigh most, because they decide whether a household needs a car for everyday life.

Five and fifteen minutes

At an easy walking pace of about 3 miles an hour, 5 minutes is a quarter mile and 15 minutes three quarters of a mile. A place within 5 minutes is one people walk to without planning; within 15 minutes, most still walk if the route is pleasant and safe. Measure along streets and paths, not in a straight line: a highway or a missing sidewalk can turn a short distance into a long walk.

Reading a score from 0 to 100

The scale

LotLens’ measure scores ten kinds of everyday place by how close the nearest one is and how many lie within 5 and 15 minutes on foot, groceries and transit weighing most:

90 and upa walker’s paradise
70 to 89very walkable
50 to 69somewhat walkable
25 to 49car-dependent
Below 25almost every errand needs a car

What a score leaves out

  • Sidewalks, crossings, shade and how safe a route feels.
  • Hills and summer heat.
  • Whether the shop nearby is one you would use, and its hours.
  • How often the bus comes: a stop is not a service.

Walk the routes you would use, at the hours you would use them.

How the Lot Report measures it

The Lot Report scores walkability from 0 to 100 for the address with this measure, lists the nearest place of each kind with its walking time, and shows the places and schools on a map of the neighborhood. It is the only score in the report: it rates the distance to everyday places, nothing about the people who live there.

Questions

What is a 15-minute neighborhood?

A planning idea: a neighborhood where daily needs, such as groceries, school, a park, a doctor and transit, lie within about 15 minutes on foot or by bike.

What is a good walkability score?

On LotLens’ measure, 70 or more means most errands can be done on foot; below 50, most need a car. Walk the routes yourself before you decide: a score cannot see sidewalks or traffic.

Look up your own address

Enter an address: the Lot Report gathers the county record, the house’s condition, home values, schools, walkability, flood risk and the zoning rules, and draws the largest building they allow.

Find your lot

More guides