An age-friendly city is also friendly for everyone, according to researchers who have explored the ease of walking in Albury.
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Spatial scientist Rachel Whitsed said results from the Walkability in regional Australia project, presented on Friday at Retro Lane Cafe, identified the availability and condition of footpaths as a key issue.
"Anything that's problematic for older people is also going to be problematic for people with disabilities, parents with prams," she said.
"Having safe, even footpaths, having toilets, having safe places to walk, having shops accessible, all those things we're looking at.
"Walking is important for everybody, but it's by far the easiest exercise for older people, to maintain their physical and mental health and for social interaction."
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A collaboration between the Charles Sturt Institute for Land, Water and Society and Albury Council, the project mapped where 50 people aged over 65 walked and asked them about their walking habits.
The study found about 75 per cent of participants thought their neighbourhoods were very walkable or above average.
Michael Letch, 82, of East Albury, walks with his dog Cammy every day, about eight kilometres in total.
"In the main, I think Albury caters very well for footpaths," he said.
"On Eastern Hill there's a lot of uneven tracks, but they don't worry me at all.
"I think as you get older you should actually choose where you walk."
Albury councillor David Thurley, who is 72, also took part and said the council needed to keep publicising walking areas for residents.
"The other thing of course is safety, so public lighting and footpaths that are well maintained and looked after are also critical," he said.
He recommended the Snap Send Solve app, where people could photograph problem footpaths and send it straight to the council.
"I've used it and within hours sometimes the council staff have been out attending to the problem," he said.
Dr Whitsed and fellow researcher Ana Horta hoped to expand the walkability pilot project into other areas such as Chiltern and Rutherglen.
"We're not just interested in where our participants walked, but where else you could walk," Dr Whitsed said.
"Both for your active transport, so you can get to the shops and the doctors for example, but also for your constitutional walk, you need to be able to do that walk around the block."
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