We’re On A Mission From G-D: Thornhill As A Walkable Jewish Suburb

Jewish Thornhill, located in Vaughan, York Region, was intentionally designed and planned as a walkable Jewish suburb. Though it is an auto-oriented suburb, Thornhill is also a walkable neighbourhood that caters to the distinct needs of its large Jewish community. Orthodox Jews require ready access to kosher food; they also require synagogues within walking distance as they do not drive cars or take transit on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays. The master planning of Thornhill was made possible by developers who recognized the Jewish community’s predictable migration pattern along Bathurst Street and purchased land in Thornhill two decades before the Jewish community had reached Thornhill. Topics that were researched for this paper included walkability, Toronto’s Jewish history, the intersection of religion and urban planning, and smart growth.

We’re On A Mission From G-D: Thornhill As A Walkable Jewish Suburb

Jewish Thornhill, located in Vaughan, York Region, was intentionally designed and planned as a walkable Jewish suburb. Though it is an auto-oriented suburb, Thornhill is also a walkable neighbourhood that caters to the distinct needs of its large Jewish community. Orthodox Jews require ready access to kosher food; they also require synagogues within walking distance as they do not drive cars or take transit on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays. The master planning of Thornhill was made possible by developers who recognized the Jewish community’s predictable migration pattern along Bathurst Street and purchased land in Thornhill two decades before the Jewish community had reached Thornhill. Topics that were researched for this paper included walkability, Toronto’s Jewish history, the intersection of religion and urban planning, and smart growth.

Exploring the Relationship Between Health and Walkability

This study aimed to broaden Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by including healthy urban performance attributes of the residential neighbourhoods as an additional predictor for walking behaviour. First, the study reviewed the literature on TPB and walkability in residential environments, and then constructed a TPB model based on walkability to set the hypotheses. The study explored the correlations among walkability attributes and walkability behaviour through a survey conducted with residents in Ankara, Turkey (n= 220). To analyse the data, first confirmatory factor analysis and later, structural equation modelling were used. The findings of the study highlighted two aspects of planning for a walkable neighbourhood: (i) a walkability model based on the three constructs of TPB should not neglect the measured and experienced urban performance; (ii) utilizing pedestrian environment for walking as fully as possible requires a collaborative and an experiential approach as well as a multi-parameter decision-making process.

Using Linked Data to Explore the Relationship Between Walking-Friendliness of Neighbourhoods, Physical Activity and Body Mass

ABSTRACTObjectivesTo demonstrate the methodology and results for linking measures of neighbourhood walking-friendliness or "walkability" to Canadian health surveys and Canadian health surveys linked to administrative health care records. ApproachWe linked multiple measures of neighbourhood walkability to hundreds of thousands of 6-digit postal codes of respondents to three large Canadian surveys using geographic information systems and anonymized banks of postal codes. ResultsLong term exposure to walkable neighbourhoods was associated with increased reporting of walking for utilitarian purposes. Moving to a high walkable neighbourhood from a low walkable neighbourhood was associated with a full unit decrease in the body mass index of Canadian men over a 12-year follow-up. In a linkage of walkability measures to respondents who wore biosensors for a one-week period in several Canadian cities, we found that neighbourhood walkability was associated with increased reporting of utilitarian walking but not overall physical activity and step counts as measured by biosensors. ConclusionThere is potential for walkable neighbourhoods to influence physical activity and body weight of Canadians which is more evident when individuals are followed for long periods of time.