Evaluation Tools

AARP Livability Index
The AARP Public Policy Institute developed the Livability Index as a web-based tool to measure community livability. Users can search the Index by address, ZIP Code, or community to find an overall livability score, as well as a score for each of seven major livability categories: housing, neighborhood, transportation, environment, health, engagement, and opportunity. Users also can customize the Index to place higher or lower emphasis on the livability features of most importance to them.

A Technical Guide for Conducting Pedestrian Safety Assessments
This document describes the California PSA process and provides guidelines for evaluators to conduct PSAs. While this book is targeted for application within California, the methods described are applicable outside California. Users of this guidebook outside California should substitute national or locally adopted standards, practices, or references as needed. 

Child-Friendly Communities
This site offers measurement and planning tools to make communities more livable for children and families. Topics include Parks & Nature, Play in Built Environments, and Transportation.

Circulate San Diego Walkability Checklist
This walkability guide and checklist provides information about the 5 ingredients of a walkable communtiy and whether your street or neighborhood is walkable. 

Evaluating the Economic Benefits of Nonmotorized Transportation
This report examines potential methods for evaluating the economic benefits from nonmotorized transportation investments. The variety of potential economic benefits of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and programming investments discussed include commute cost savings for bicyclists and pedestrians, direct benefits to bicycle and tourism-related businesses, indirect economic benefits due to changing consumer behavior, and individual and societal cost savings associated with health and environmental benefits.

FHWA Tools to Diagnose and Solve the Problem
A critical first step towards improving non-motorist safety is to identify the problem. There are many different safety problems that pedestrians and bicyclist's experience, and a safety countermeasure that works at one location may not address the problem at another location. If the safety problem can be identified, it may be easier to recommend solutions. The FHWA's goal is to develop methods to make it easier to determine the true nature of a pedestrian or bicyclist safety problem and to focus in on the most appropriate countermeasures.

Guidebook for Developing Pedestrian and Bicycle Performance Measures
This guidebook is intended to help communities develop performance measures that can fully integrate pedestrian and bicycle planning in ongoing performance management activities. It highlights a broad range of ways that walking and bicycling investments, activity, and impacts can be measured and documents how these measures relate to goals identified in a community’s planning process. It discusses how the measures can be tracked and what data are required, while also identifying examples of communities that are currently using the respective measures in their planning process. 

Housing and Transportation Affordability Index
The Housing and Transportation Affordability Index provides a comprehensive view of affordability that includes both the cost of housing and the cost of transportation at the neighborhood level.

Pedestrian Road Safety Audit Guidelines and Prompt List
The Pedestrian Road Safety Audit Guidelines and Prompt Lists developed for the Federal Highway Administration provides transportation agencies and teams conducting an RSA with a better understanding of the needs of pedestrians of all abilities. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EnviroAtlas
The EnviroAtlas is a collection of interactive tools and resources that allows users to explore the many benefits people receive from nature, often referred to as ecosystem services. Though critically important to human well-being, ecosystem services are often overlooked. Using EnviroAtlas, many types of users can access, view, and analyze diverse information to better understand how various decisions can affect an array of ecological and human health outcomes.

Walkable America Walkability Checklist
Take a walk with your child and use this checklist to decide if your neighborhood is a friendly place to walk.

Walk Score
Walk Score measures the walkability of any address using a patented system. For each address, Walk Score analyzes hundreds of walking routes to nearby amenities. Points are awarded based on the distance to amenities in each category. Walk Score also measures pedestrian friendliness by analyzing population density and road metrics such as block length and intersection density. 

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