Town planning · Explorer

Walkshed explorer

Compare an ideal walking circle with a network-based walkshed. Change block size, street pattern, diagonal cut-throughs, and river, rail, or arterial barriers to see how much reach a neighborhood really gives up.

Choose a street pattern

Target search intent: 5 minute walk radius, walkshed, pedshed, pedestrian catchment.

Preset

Street pattern

Walking time (minutes)

Walking speed (km/h)

East-west block size (m)

North-south block size (m)

Diagonal cut-throughs

Barrier

Crossing spacing (m)

Barrier delay per crossing (s)

The diagram is deliberately schematic. It is meant to explain permeability and severance, not replace a full GIS-based audit for a real site.

What this page answers

A 10-minute walk is not a perfect circle unless the street network behaves like one. Long blocks, superblocks, sparse crossings, and rail or river barriers all shrink the useful catchment.

How much smaller is the reachable walkshed than the simple crow-fly radius?
Are long blocks the problem, or is one barrier doing most of the damage?
How much do diagonal cut-throughs or extra crossings actually help?

Read the launch note for this explorer.

Live summary

Key metrics

Network sketch

All walkable streets Reachable within time budget Ideal circle Barrier

Good for

Explaining why a quarter-mile radius can overstate real pedestrian access
Teaching pedshed ratio, permeability, and severance in planning discussions
Comparing street-pattern tradeoffs before reaching for heavier GIS tools

Important limitation

This page does not know about actual slopes, sidewalk quality, personal safety, destinations, or real parcel geometry. It is a fast network explainer, not a parcel-level planning approval tool.