It depends. The following map shows some illustrative isochrones (a travel time concept similar to isodistance) evaluated using Travel Time’s (TT) app for QGIS (you will need a paid plan to enjoy it’s full powers). The layers were simplified for web display when imported into ArcGis.
Using the 30 minute walk time isochrone, we could conclude that most of the communities are highly walkable and that a decent proportion of the populations of the main towns are within the 15m walk time isochrone.
The notion of walkability has multiple applications, whether it is in accessing local services and shops, accessing public greenspaces, the sea and the countryside, and may even influence the value of your home. Businesses might use it to optimise the position of an outlet close to their market or in relation to the competition.
Self evidently, some services are simply no longer available in all towns, so some communities will not be able to walk to their local bank. In other cases like Dunbar and North Berwick, the 30m cycle isochrone suggests that a bank trip would be a 2 hour journey, with a fair wind and a decent track.
You can turn the Isochrone layers on and off. TT offer a very good online tool, which has interesting extensions, for assessing not just the travel time by foot, bicycle, car but also public transport using realtime information. Even if you’re not into QGis, you can have a play with the TT web app, which shows off some of the tools’ superpowers.
