Nepf, Godwin, and Co-Authors Publish Article on Measuring Walking-Based Access to Parks in King County

Posted: 2026-09-25 12:50:12 (CSDE Research)

CSDE Graduate Trainee Mark Nepf (Evans School of Public Policy and Governance), Jessica Godwin, and co-authors recently published a research article in Case Studies in the Environment examining park access across King County using a walking-based approach. Cluster analysis revealed distinct spatial patterns, with high-access clusters concentrated in Seattle’s urban core and low-access clusters primarily in eastern and southern King County, pointing to regions where targeted infrastructure investment could have the greatest impact. The study underscores the value of measuring access using walking distances that account for local road networks, rather than straight-line distance alone. The methodology, implemented with open-source R packages and publicly available data, offers a reproducible framework for practitioners and educators alike; an accompanying supplemental code vignette provides a step-by-step walkthrough that planners can adapt to assess access to parks or other local amenities, while students can use it to develop their own spatial analyses. The full article can be accessed here. Congrats Mark, Jessica, and team!