Pairing up with walkable.ca, WestJet's in-flight magazine, up!, looked at the 10 Most Walkable Cities in Canada in its May 2010 issue.
It's the second year the magazine ranked cities across the country according to how pedestrian-friendly they are.
Tom Gierasimczuk, up!'s editor and author of the article, said they wanted to learn which cities provided easy travel for both tourists and locals.
Quoting one of the judges, Gierasimczuk said the term 'walkable' is shorthand for a city worth exploring.
Judging criteria for what made a city walkable included factors like green space, the number of hiking trails in a city, public transportation and even weather.
Judges determined which cities made travel by foot more accessible. The key indicator of a walkable city is its population density, that is, the number of people per square kilometre.
The top-five cities -- Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, Toronto and Halifax -- have high population densities, which affect how people interact with space and urban planning, he said.
The magazine gathered its information through a number of sources, including StatsCan and individual city statistics and then developed a 12-point questionnaire on topics such as the percentage of people who walk to work, park areas, vehicle use, etc.
The information was presented to a panel of judges -- author, broadcaster and director of Jane's Walks, Jane Farrow, Guillermo Penalosa, consultant, planner and executive director of the non-profit 8 ? 80 Cities, and sustainability professional Amanda Mitchell.
Up! discovered a city with a higher population density embraced a visitor-centric approach when it came to urban planning. The more walkable a city, the more livable it was for its citizens (and easier for tourists to navigate).
It comes as no surprise that Vancouver came out on top (see below for the complete list).
The city has a number of factors in its favour, from its population density (about 5,000 people per square kilometre), pleasant climate to expansive parkland.
Nearly 40 per cent of downtown residents walk to work and it's easy to see why.
Vancouver is packed with attractive streetscapes and a progressive street pattern with many maps that help pedestrians find their bearings, Gierasimczuk said.
The city provides ample opportunities for its inhabitants and tourists to be active.
"It's got this mystique. It has built a reputation as this walkable, active, car-free paradise," he said.
A walkable place means a city respects its inhabitants enough to want to provide a manageable and livable space.
"All these factors that make a city walkable means that a city celebrates its citizens," Gierasimczuk said.
Walking is also one of the simplest, cheapest and healthiest ways to get around. Not only is walking a great way to shed the pounds, it doesn't cost anything to use our own two feet.
More often than not, when you go for a walk you discover something new.
You notice things you normally wouldn't see from the vantage point of a car or even a bicycle, since walking is an activity that forces you to slow down, breathe, look around and take things in.
Now, who wants to go for a stroll?
Canada's Most Walkable Cities 2010
1. Vancouver
2. Victoria
3. Montreal
4. Toronto
5. Halifax
6. Quebec City
7. Ottawa
8. Calgary
9. St. John's
10. Winnipeg
http://ca.travel.yahoo.com/guides/Other ... k-this-way