Walking in L.A.: An Examination of the Effects of Community Walkability on Topophilia, Sense of Community, and Quality of Life

This thesis examines the relationships among residents' perceived walkability of their community, topophilia, their sense of community, and perceived quality of life. As sustainable transportation and urban living increase in popularity, research into the benefits of walkable communities is becoming desirable not only as a tool for urban planners but also as a useful tool and point of reference for sociologists to study community building and sense of place. It is proposed that walkable neighborhoods contribute to the facilitation of sense of community, which leads to an individual's attachment to place, and results in an increase in quality of life. To examine these relationships, a survey was created to measure basic demographic data and information pertaining to the respondents' topophilia, sense of community, quality of life, and the walkability of their neighborhood. The survey was distributed to individuals who lived in Los Angeles County and were eighteen years old and older. It was distributed online through Facebook, Craigslist, Reddit forums, and e-mail, utilizing convenience and snowball sampling. There were 451 total respondents. The relationships amongst the proposed variables were examined in a quantitative manner via regression and path analysis. It was found that walkability, topophilia, and sense of community explained 24% of the variance in quality of life. Additional relationships amongst walkability, topophilia and sense of community were also explored.