Parkes vs Lachlan

Parkes and Lachlan are two regional areas in New South Wales with different levels of accessibility. Parkes is more walkable, with a score of 4.6 (somewhat walkable) compared to 3.7 (mostly car-dependent) in Lachlan. This is most clear in public transport access, where 70.2% of Parkes homes are within a 10-minute walk of a stop, far higher than the 27.9% seen in Lachlan. Parkes also has a far larger First Nations population, with 1,867 people compared to 1,091 in Lachlan.

Both areas are very similar in their terrain and the fact that about 47% of homes are within a 15-minute walk of groceries. This shared level of access to food anchors the two regions, even though Parkes generally has better access to schools and parks. While the gaps in walkability remain, the two areas are nearly identical in the share of people who speak a First Nations language.