This is an excellent article by Alex Bozikovic, Joe Castaldo and Danielle Webb about the 15-minute city. In it, they do a block-by-block analysis of how many Canadians actually live in what they are calling an "amenity dense" neighborhood.

Their definition of amenity dense:

• Grocery store, pharmacy, and public transit stop within one kilometer

• Childcare facility, primary school, and a library within 1.5 kilometers

• Healthcare facility within three kilometers

• Place of employment within 10 kilometers

Once you apply this filter to Canadian cities, it turns out that only about 23.3% of city dwellers live in this kind of amenity dense neighborhood. It's really only our three largest cities. For the most part, we have built environments that want you to have a car.

When it comes Toronto, and also Montreal, it is a tale of two almost equally divided cities. If you live in a central neighborhood, you're probably dense with amenities. But in the inner suburbs, it becomes pretty spotty. And though it can be done, this is not an easy change.

The full article has many more of these city maps and so I would encourage you to check it out. It's a great piece of journalism.

Photo by Chloe Evans on Unsplash