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Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

bipartisanalliance.com

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Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't give an example, they express their impression rather than providing contrary data.

Do you expect an entire research paper in a single HN comment?

No, but I would expect HN participants to not dismiss a researched paper with a glib "feeling" that's utterly unfounded.

Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't give an example, they express their impression rather than providing contrary data.

Do you expect an entire research paper in a single HN comment?

I don't really care either way. I was arguing with your characterization of their comment, not demanding that they retract it.

Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#25
Walkability goes hand-in-hand with density. Density tends to occur close-in as a consequence of land values being higher.

Therefore, there is a natural association between high property values and walkability.

I hope the paper takes this into account. It could just be that people with more money live in more desirable locations, which end up being more walkable too.

Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#26

Correlation not causation..nothing to see here.

Lots to see when we find correlation, even if we aren't certain of the causation. First and foremost, we should attempt to replicate it and see if the correlation holds up independently. Second, we should attempt to determine if their is a causal relationship. The arrow of causality going in either direction is of great interest to urban planning. Or third, if there is no causal relationship between them, we should a…

There's another possibility: The two variables are completely unrelated but we only get to observe them when some function of both of the variables is true. The classic example is two independent coin tosses that trigger a bell when both coins come up the same -- and we only think to look at the coins when the bell sounds.

Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots to see when we find correlation, even if we aren't certain of the causation. First and foremost, we should attempt to replicate it and see if the correlation holds up independently. Second, we should attempt to determine if their is a causal relationship. The arrow of causality going in either direction is of great interest to urban planning. Or third, if there is no causal relationship between them, we should a…

There's another possibility: The two variables are completely unrelated but we only get to observe them when some function of both of the variables is true. The classic example is two independent coin tosses that trigger a bell when both coins come up the same -- and we only think to look at the coins when the bell sounds.

Thus my first suggestion that we get independent reproduction of the results :-)

One of the most common such "observability" functions is that humans tend to pay attention to things they find interesting.

Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#29

There is a factor not being considered in walkability studies. How far/convenient are pharmacies/cheap grocery places. Those are the most important things

Availability of nearby services such as those is a pretty major component in the walkability scores I've seen like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_Score . I agree they are very important, but I think they are considered. Where do you see them missing?

Re: Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents

#30
post #29

There is a factor not being considered in walkability studies. How far/convenient are pharmacies/cheap grocery places. Those are the most important things

Availability of nearby services such as those is a pretty major component in the walkability scores I've seen like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_Score . I agree they are very important, but I think they are considered. Where do you see them missing?

In real life.
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