Where Phoenix can't walk to a park
A ten-minute walk is the standard the city published. Erase every park's walking radius from the city limits and 367 square miles are left over. Here is where they are, by village.
Priya's standard was a ten-minute walk. NeuraCities turned that into three map operations and a number the parks department can put in front of council.
How the gaps were drawn
Three city layers and three steps:
- Phoenix's city boundary, its 15 planning villages, and 180 public parks, all from the city's open data portal.
- A walking radius of 800 metres, the usual ten-minute distance, was drawn around every park.
- Those radii were erased from the city boundary, leaving only the ground beyond a ten-minute walk, and the remainder was cut by village so every gap has a name. It adds up to 367 of the city's 555 square miles, with North Gateway, Desert View and Ahwatukee the most uncovered by area.
Read the number carefully
The 367 square miles are land area, not people. The top villages are largely mountain preserve where nobody lives. The gaps that matter for a budget hearing are in Maryvale, Alhambra and Central City, where the blocks are full. Open the conversation, add the census blocks, and ask for the gap weighted by population instead of acres.
Phoenix Park Walk Access
Everything above is this conversation. Open it to see the sources, steps and layers, and ask the next question yourself.