Giles-Corti 2003 - “Relative Influences of Individual, Social Environmental, and Physical Environmental Correlates of Walking”

Giles-Corti, Billie and Donovan, Robert J.
“Relative Influences of Individual, Social Environmental, and Physical Environmental Correlates of Walking.”
American Journal of Public Health.
September 2003; v.93, n.9; pp. 1583-1589.
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Using a survey of healthy residents of Perth, Australia and an objective measure of access to places to walk, Giles-Corti and Donovan found that living on a quiet street with sidewalks, trees, and shops increased the likelihood that survey participants walked  the recommended daily amount.

"In comparison with those who had major traffic and no trees on their street, the odds of achieving recommended levels of walking were nearly 50% higher among those who lived on a street with one or both of these features." (But this number is not statistically significant.)

"In comparison with those who had no sidewalk and no shop on their street, those who had access to either or both were about 25% more likely to achieve the recommended level of walking.

The authors also created a "physical environment determinant score" measuring the presence of sidewalks, trees, shops, heavy traffic, and access to attractive public open spaces (parks, beaches, etc.).  Compared with people living in neighborhoods with the lowest physical environment determinant score, those whose neighborhoods had the highest score had 2.13 times higher odds of achieving the recommended level of walking.

Note that the authors looked only at walking and not at all physical activity, so some participants who got enough physical activity (such as members of sports clubs) may not have gotten enough walking, potentially skewing the results.