I’m going to say either (a) Nothing is easily walkable, or (b) Four miles.
My reasoning: I’m a little further removed from businesses than I was in my old home, but still in as good physical shape as I was in my previous home. My previous home was four miles from my office, and when the weather was nice, I would sometimes run to work. My home was also across the street from a shopping center (i.e., on the other side of a major road with a stoplight and a walk/don’t walk signal), and while I would sometimes walk to the shopping center, it was often easier to drive – it took less time and was more comfortable.
In my case, I think running (or walking) for exercise just belongs in a different category from walking to get something done. If I want to get something done, I want to get it done in the quickest and most convenient way possible. On the other hand, I’ll go out on a mountain trail for several hours, because in that case, the whole point is to be hiking on the mountain.
It kind of depends on the terrain and environment for me.
My house is roughly 1/3 - 1/2 of a mile away from stuff, but my neighborhood is also very hilly and very suburban, i.e. the walk is difficult and boring. But if I lived in a flat, urban area, I’d happily walk that far and probably double that.
How easily walkable something is depends on whether I have a destination, how much I want to get there and what the walk will be like. I don’t even want to walk a half-mile to a grocery store if I’m buying more than a couple of items because of hassles of carrying my purchases home. But in my urban area, I’ve walked more than a mile home after dropping my car off at a mechanic - which I probably wouldn’t have done if it meant walking on mostly residential streets
When the weather was good, my wife and I were doing recreational walks of 2-4 miles, but if I’m going to be carrying something in my hands, my limit will be a lot less, with the acceptable distance depending on what I’m carrying; if I’ve got double-bagged (i.e. heavy) groceries in each hand, I’m not going to want to do much more than a 1/4-mile.
The nearest stores are 1.5 miles from me, and the routes there are not terribly pleasant to walk, so I’ve only done so a few times in the ~15 years I’ve lived in this location.
Yeah, I have to factor the finding-parking hassle into the equation in a large strip mall, as well as the heat and rain.
I know, right? Due to the humidity, it’s almost always either too hot or too cold. 40 degrees is cold in florida and not only because people aren’t used to it: the water in the air will strip out the heat from your body if there is any wind at all even better than dry northern 30 degree weather. I definitely factor this into my walkability quotient.
Google Maps tells me the walk from my apartment building in Brooklyn to the nearest subway station is half a mile. So that’s my minimum walk, meaning I have to walk at least that far to get anywhere at all.
The walk to my wife’s office from our home is .6 of a mile.
Both walks seem really easy to me.
It’s one mile to the nearest Target, where I go sometimes. Again, seems like an easily walkable distance to me, even in poor weather.
Funny, my wife thinks these are all long walks. I grew up in the city, and she grew up in a rural area, so you’d think it was the other way around, but it’s not.
My guess is that, where she grew up, either a destination was right next door, or it was so far away that you had to drive. So she thinks walking any distance at all is a big deal.
If the weather’s good, I’m not picking up anything heavy and it’s a reasonably flat route, maybe 2 miles or so. I used to walk that distance into town all the time, which used to take me 25-30 minutes- I walk fast. I’ll regularly park a mile away from where I’m going to avoid paying for parking- I’m fast and cheap.
I rarely walk much distance to shops where I currently live though, the post office, doctor and pharmacy are all only about half a mile, the fruit 'n veg place is just a few hundred metres (yeah, yeah, I’m English, we refuse to pick one measurement system and stick to it). If I’m going further, I’m usually getting a load of stuff including frozen food, so I’ll drive.
I live in Manhattan so especially with the pandemic I walk everywhere. I can’t remember the last time I was on the subway. If something needs to be hauled I take my falling apart little cart. There’s no place I need to go that can’t be walked to although when buses were free I’d hop on one from time to time. A music store even opened up in my neighborhood so I don’t have to travel to get picks and strings.
For recreation I’ll walk anywhere from 2.5 to 5.5 miles (all flat though) at least half the distance in Central Park. I know when I’ve walked 5 miles because my feet start hurting quite suddenly. It’s a bit harder for me to get out the door now that it’s dark when I get off work, so that’s something I need to work on.
Until about 2 years ago, I regularly walked 4 miles to my office, but that was getting harder and harder. Still anything up to a mile is still fine. Come April, I will be taking my car to the garage two miles away to have the snow tires removed and try to walk back, rather than take a bus. Unless I’ve been vaccinated. My son was visiting in October and he took the car in for the purpose and ran back.
The most distant place of business that I walk to regularly is the farmer’s market, which Google Maps thinks is about a mile from my apartment (although in practice, I think it’s closer since Google Maps doesn’t know you can cut across parking lots and such).
It’s always easier when I have my dog pulling me… and I only have a dachshund. Thirteen pounds of pure muscle, though. I’ve never worked close to home since I was in high school – between 25 and 40 miles my entire adult working life. But I’d say a mile is the most I’d do for a regular commute walk.
If it’s a big grocery store, I don’t necessarily want to lug cases of pop or many bags any significant distance. But if it’s a few things - bakery bread, fresh fish or takeout - it also depends on the weather. Canada is not always free of snow and ice.
I can walk for miles and my dog gets 1-3 walks every day. The distance is not that relevant, but a mile may or may not be too far. I’d consider parking ease and cost, dog friendliness, distance, weather, intended purchases and my daily schedule. I get my main exercise elsewhere, but value scenic walks.