People who moved to cities with better walkability logged about 1,100 more steps per day and were nearly twice as likely to meet exercise goals, according to a large U.S. relocation study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
Researchers from the University of Washington and Stanford University tracked about 5,500 Americans of all ages and fitness levels as they moved between 1,600 U.S. cities, monitoring their activity for 90 days before and after the move, from 2013 to 2016.
Using smartphone step counts and the Walk Score system, which rates locations from 0 to 100 based on access to amenities like stores, parks and schools, they found that moving from a low-walkability city (48 or less) to a high-walkability one (75 or more) added an average of 1,100 steps a day.
That equated to roughly 11 extra minutes of walking per day, or about one additional hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week.
