Wow! Moving to Walkable Cities Makes People Walk Way More!,University of Washington


Wow! Moving to Walkable Cities Makes People Walk Way More!

Imagine this: You live in a city where you can easily walk to your friend’s house, the park, or even the ice cream shop! Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, scientists at the University of Washington have found out something super interesting about these kinds of cities. They’ve discovered that when people move to cities where it’s easy and fun to walk, they actually do walk a whole lot more!

This is like if you moved to a house with a giant backyard – you’d probably play outside a lot more than if you lived in a tiny apartment, wouldn’t you?

What Makes a City “Walkable”?

Think about it. A walkable city is like a giant playground for your feet! It has lots of:

  • Sidewalks: Nice, clear paths just for walking, so you don’t have to walk in the street with cars.
  • Short Blocks: Imagine walking around a tiny square instead of a super-duper long road to get to your destination. That makes walking much faster and easier!
  • Things Close By: Lots of cool places like shops, parks, schools, and houses are all near each other. You don’t have to take a car for every little trip.
  • Safe Crosswalks: Special places with lines on the road where cars are supposed to stop so you can cross the street safely.

What Did the Scientists Discover?

The scientists looked at people who moved from less walkable places to more walkable places. And guess what? They found that these people started walking an average of 10 to 15 minutes more each day! That might not sound like a lot, but over a week, that’s like an extra hour of walking! Plus, they were more likely to walk for longer periods of time.

Why is This So Cool?

This discovery is really important for a few reasons:

  • It’s Good for Your Body! Walking is like exercise for your whole body. It makes your heart strong, helps you have energy, and keeps you healthy. The more you walk, the healthier you can be!
  • It’s Good for the Planet! When people walk instead of taking cars, there are fewer cars on the road. Fewer cars mean less yucky pollution in the air, which is better for everyone and for the animals too!
  • It’s Fun to Explore! When you walk around your neighborhood, you see things you might miss if you were zooming by in a car. You might discover a hidden park, a cute little shop, or even meet new friends.

How Can You Be a Super Explorer?

Even if you don’t live in a super walkable city right now, you can still be a walking super-explorer!

  • Ask your parents to walk with you: Can you walk to the park? Can you walk to your friend’s house if they live nearby?
  • Explore your own neighborhood: Pretend you’re a detective and look for interesting things on your street. What kind of trees do you see? What colors are the houses?
  • Imagine your own walkable city: If you could design a perfect city for walking, what would it have? Maybe lots of colorful sidewalks, fun bridges, and parks with playgrounds on every corner!

Science is All Around You!

This study shows how scientists use their brains to figure out how the world works, even things like how we choose to move around! They ask questions, collect information, and then tell us what they learned. You can be a scientist too by being curious, asking “why?”, and exploring the world around you. So, next time you have a chance, lace up your shoes and go for a walk – you might be surprised at what you discover!


People who move to more walkable cities do, in fact, walk significantly more


The AI has delivered the news.

The following question was used to generate the response from Google Gemini:

At 2025-08-13 15:00, University of Washington published ‘People who move to more walkable cities do, in fact, walk significantly more’. Please write a detailed article with related information, in simple language that children and students can understand, to encourage more children to be interested in science. Please provide only the article in English.

Leave a Comment