Cowes · Urban Centre
How much of daily life sits within a walk of home — a transparent 0–10 walkability score and the everyday destinations you can reach on foot: shops, public transport, schools, parks and health services, plus the streets and terrain in between.
Far fewer homes have a 15-minute walk to essential services in Cowes compared to the rest of Victoria. The area is considered somewhat walkable, but while almost every resident can easily reach a park, access to schools and health services is much lower than the state average.
All urban centre areas, 2021. The marker is Cowes — somewhat walkable of areas.
Share of homes (G-NAF addresses) in Cowes by walking time to the nearest amenity of each type, on an elevation-aware pedestrian network. How we calculate this →
The overall walkability score and how much of daily life is a short walk away.
The walkability score for Cowes is 5.3, which means it is somewhat walkable. This is a little below the Victorian figure of 6.4, and only 51.8% of homes have a 15-minute-city walkshed, which is far below the state average of 74.3%.
5.3
Somewhat walkable of urban centre areas.
A 0–10 score for how much of daily life sits within an easy walk of the average home — weighing how close groceries, public transport, cafés, parks, health services, schools, culture and everyday services are, and how many of each. Walking times are measured on an elevation-aware pedestrian network, so hills count against reach. The methodology page describes how the score is put together.
5.3
Higher than 62% of urban centre areas.
How many of the eight everyday amenity types — groceries, food & drink, health, schools, parks, culture, everyday services and public transport — the average home can reach on foot within 15 minutes, out of 8.
51.8%
Lower than 55% of urban centre areas.
Share of local homes that can reach at least five of the eight everyday amenity types within a 15-minute walk — the "15-minute city" test. Homes are counted as addresses (G-NAF), not people.
How many homes can walk to groceries, transport, schools, parks and health services.
Access to parks is excellent, with 99% of homes within a 15-minute walk, far above the Victorian average. However, this contrasts with poor access to other needs; for example, 47.8% of homes are within 15 minutes of a school and 47.2% are near health services, both far below state figures.
62.5%
Higher than 53% of urban centre areas.
Share of local homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries or everyday shopping. Homes are counted as addresses (G-NAF), not people.
76.1%
Higher than 68% of urban centre areas.
Share of local homes within a 10-minute walk of a public-transport stop — bus, train, tram or ferry. Homes are counted as addresses (G-NAF), not people.
47.8%
Lower than 65% of urban centre areas.
Share of local homes within a 15-minute walk of a school. Homes are counted as addresses (G-NAF), not people.
99.0%
Higher than 80% of urban centre areas.
Share of local homes within a 15-minute walk of a park or area of open space. Homes are counted as addresses (G-NAF), not people.
47.2%
Higher than 60% of urban centre areas.
Share of local homes within a 15-minute walk of health services such as a GP, pharmacy or hospital. Homes are counted as addresses (G-NAF), not people.
Amenity density, how well the streets connect, and how hilly the walk is.
The terrain slope is 3.8%, which is about the same as the rest of Victoria. There are 138 intersections per square kilometre and 23 walkable amenities per 1,000 residents, which is well above the state average of 15.7.
23.0
Higher than 61% of urban centre areas.
Walkable amenities — shops, cafés, parks, health services, schools, cultural and community places, everyday services and public-transport stops — per 1,000 residents. Measures how much is around, apart from how far it is to walk there.
138
Higher than 97% of urban centre areas.
Walkable street intersections per square kilometre. Denser, better-connected street grids give more direct routes on foot than winding, cul-de-sac layouts.
3.8%
Lower than 64% of urban centre areas.
Average terrain slope across the area, as a percent grade. Steeper ground shortens how far people will walk; it is already folded into the walkability score through the elevation-aware pedestrian network, and is shown here on its own for context.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Walkability in Cowes [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ucl/UCL214006/cowes/topic/walkability
