By XAVIER SMERDON
MELBOURNE’S western suburbs are some of the most car-dependant in Australia, with almost all areas requiring residents to drive to appointments, according to a worldwide survey.
Walk Score, a website that has tallied the “walkability” of suburbs in major cities all over the world, has ranked most in Melbourne’s West as sub-par.
Suburbs were given a walk score of between zero and 100, with 100 being the best for access via walking, and zero being the worst.
They were then ranked against all other suburbs in Melbourne.
Tarneit in Wyndham was ranked as the worst in the West, with a score of just 18, making it the 332nd most walkable suburb and placing it in the bottom 15 suburbs in Melbourne, along with areas like St Andrews Beach, which has a population of only 853 people.
According to the website, almost all errands in Tarneit require a car and there are almost no restaurants, coffee shops or bars within walking distance for the average resident.
Truganina, Williams Landing and Derrimut also ranked at or below 300.
Seddon was ranked the best in the West, in 35th place when compared to the rest of Melbourne.
Melton was not included as a suburb of Melbourne but it received a score of 33, which would mean it was ranked lower than 300 when compared to all other suburbs.
Matt Lerner from Walk Score said car-dependent suburbs were unhealthy for their residents.
“Walking is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to stay healthy,” Mr Lerner said.
“A study by the University of Utah showed that the average person in a walkable neighbourhood weighs 6-10 pounds less than someone in an unwalkable neighbourhood.”
For more information visit www.walkscore.com
