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Duncan is Vancouver Island’s most walkable community

Victoria also scores well, but most Island communities are car dependent
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Duncan tops the Island with a walkability score of 85 out of 100. (Lexi Bainas/Citizen)

Want to walk off that extra helping of Thanksgiving turkey?

You might want to be in Duncan.

The core of the Cowichan Valley leads all Vancouver Island cities with a walkability rating of 85 out of 100, according to Walk Score, a website that promotes walkable neighbourhoods. This rating earns the City of Totems the status of “very walkable” as “most errands can be accomplished on foot.”

You are also in luck if you live in the City of Victoria, which has a rating of 78. Of the 14 Victoria neighbourhoods that the site rates, Harris Green (98), Downtown (97) and North Park (91) finish in the Top 13. Rockland (71), Oaklands (70), and Gonzales (66) make up the Bottom 3.

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Oak Bay finishes between Saanich and Victoria with a walk-ability rating of 61.

Saanich, the region’s largest municipality, finishes with a ranking of “somewhat walkable” by scoring 51 out of 100 points. While the website does not break down Saanich by neighbourhoods, Saanich likely features considerable variability, with neighbourhoods bordering Victoria and Oak Bay likely more walkable than neighbourhoods towards the northern or western end of the municipality.

Up-Island and West Shore communities meanwhile struggle when it comes to walk-ability. Langford with a rating of 48 out of 100 is a “car-dependent city,” as are View Royal (47), and Colwood (42), where “most errands require a car.”

Nanaimo (45), Ladysmith (44), Courtenay (39), Parksville (39), Comox (38), Campbell River (37) and Qualicum Beach (31) all fall into a similar range.

Down at the bottom of the list are Sooke (23) and Metchosin (15) — communities, where “almost all errands require a car.”

Meanwhile, the Saanich Peninsula should not feel too smug. North Saanich ties Metchosin for the least walkable community in the Greater Victoria region, while Central Saanich (35) and Sidney (32) are not exactly friendly places for pedestrians.


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wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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