Walkscore.com: A New Methodology to Explore Associations Between Neighborhood Resources, Race, and Health

In recent years, interest in relationships between neighborhoods, the built environment and health has increased. One result of this has been the creation of Walkscore.com. This website allows users to enter an address and retrieve a ranking between 0 and 100, the Walkscore, by which users can then assess an address's location-specific accessibility to neighborhood resources such as grocery stores, restaurants, bars, parks, libraries, and schools lying within the address's one-mile radius. We investigated the association between Walkscore and health indicators for 15 Boston neighborhoods. Significant inverse correlations were found between Walkscore and neighborhood prevalence of overweight/obesity (r=-0.75, p=0.001), hypertension (r=-0.75, p=0.020), and lack of exercise (r=-0.60, p=0.018). Additionally, an inverse correlation was found between Walkscore and the percent of neighborhood population comprised by African-American residents (r=-0.61, p=0.001). No significant relationship was found between Walkscore and other race groups or with the percentage of neighborhood residents living below the federal poverty line. These findings suggest that Walkscore may be a promising tool for researchers and policy makers interested in exploring the relationships between neighborhoods and health. Furthermore, when linked with other tools, the relationship between Walkscore and the percent of neighborhood population comprised by African-American residents introduces new potential to ask and answer, through a historical and spatial lens, integrative questions relating health inequalities, racial segregation, and the built environment. We discuss interpretative considerations in using Walkscore.com for health investigations, and suggest types of data still needed for further research.