Conclusion

Overall, we explored the ease of access in various neighborhoods by foot and by bike, the correlation of walkability to socioeconomic and health outcomes, and sentiment around walkability in Washington, D.C. First, we see that walkability is associated with mixed socioeconomic outcomes, based on geographic area: while all outer parts of Washington, D.C. have low walkability, the top edges have higher car ownership and socioeconomic outcomes, whereas the low edges have low car ownership and poorer socioeconomic outcomes. Second, we see that low walkability is generally associated with poorer health outcomes, which makes sense because having decreased access to walking would limit mobility and health outcomes. After examining walkability and its assocation with various outcomes, we examined bikability and noticed that there are more neighborhood-downtown bike lanes and fewer neighborhood-neighborhood bike lanes. Given that housing and spending are generally higher in downtown areas, this trend makes it more expensive and unsafe to travel between lower-income areas. Finally, we investigated public sentiment on walking, biking, and cars in Washington, D.C. and discovered that people tend to comment on bicycles more favorably than on walking or driving, all categories also draw criticism.

It is important to note that various socioeconomic and health outcomes as well as walkability are interconnected and contribute to a complex web of influences on each other. Overall, our findings show that higher walkability in neighborhoods can promote physical activity, access to healthy food, and overall environmental and socioeconomic well-being, which in turn can positively impact various health metrics. If we had more time to conduct this study, we would love to explore the interactions between socioeconomic and health metrics to help us contextualize the relationship between walkability and such outcomes, so to have a better understanding of the causal and correlational relationships between these factors. For our text data, we would also further contextualize the sentiment analysis and differentiate between sentences like “I hate that walkability in Washington, D.C. is bad” and “I hate walking in Washington, D.C.” to obtain more accurate findings.

As Washington, D.C. is among the most walkable cities in the US, we hope that this study can increase awareness of the importance of walkability and even inspire future initiatives in improving walkability in Washington, D.C. and other cities too. Having an equitable access to amenities like grocery stores and community health centers is vital to positive outcomes, and we hope that this study might inspire you to find ways to learn more about and promote walkability in where you live.