Take a look at which Canadian cities are more walkable than Calgary

CALGARY — Calgary was ranked the least walkable in a Top 10 list of Canada’s biggest cities obtained Tuesday.

Toronto, Edmonton and Brampton were considered more pedestrian-friendly in a report being billed as the first countrywide, apples-to-apples comparison of walkability.

The results were calculated by Walk Score, an American company that “measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle.” Its online tool looks at the distance between addresses and amenities such as grocery stores, restaurants and schools.

Vancouver finished first with a score of 78. By comparison, Calgary scored 48 out of 100 possible points, good enough for dead last and a status as “car dependent.”

“A 48 means it’s not particularly walkable,” Josh Herst, CEO of Walk Score, said in an interview late Tuesday.

City council has taken steps to improve walkability, including new downtown signage introduced last summer will help people travelling by foot.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi has pushed to create communities where it’s possible to walk to the grocery store, work and school.

Nenshi has also called for simple fixes such as aligning curb cuts to make it easier for people to walk straight across the street.

In November, Ald. Druh Farrell pitched her council colleagues on a bylaw that would force contractors to cover streets in construction zones.

Those type of walker-friendly initiatives don’t register on the Walk Scores, but make it easier for Calgarians hoofing it around town.

Six neighbourhoods — Chinatown, downtown core, Cliff Bungalow, Eau Claire, the Beltline and downtown west end — already classify as a “walker’s paradise,” with a score above 90.

“There’s a lot of reason to be optimistic that will improve in the months and years ahead,” Herst said.

However, he also pointed to many of Calgary’s suburban areas that scored in the 20s and low 30s that consequently drag down the city average.

“There happens to be quite a few neighbourhoods that rank much lower,” Herst said.

Ald. Shane Keating, who represents many newer communities in the deep southeast suburbs, said good things are happening in new developments, too. Keating said houses are built near recreation facilities, business centres and schools.

Walkability, he contended, can’t be measured with a blanket approach.“We can’t have a society where everyone walks to the grocery store,” he said.

Keating added: “things will change 20 years from now with more density.”

Researchers applied Walk Score’s algorithm on a block-by-block basis and weighed that against population figures taken from 2011 census data. Engineer Kenshi Kawaguchi explained the method accounts for current density levels, citing Nose Hill Park as example of an area that wouldn’t skew the results.

“It doesn’t actually contribute or bring down the city’s walkscore because no one lives there,” Kawaguchi said.

bweismiller@calgaryherald.com