Another interesting journal article

... remember that Sage Publications has open access to their journal backfile through tomorrow.  This is another article from Urban Studies Journal.

"Retrofitting the Suburbs to Increase Walking: Evidence from a Land-use–Travel Study"
Marlon G. Boarnet, Kenneth Joh, Walter Siembab, William Fulton and Mai Thi Nguyen
48(1) 129–159, January 2011

Abstract: This paper reports results from a detailed travel diary survey of 2125 residents in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County—a mature, auto-oriented suburban region.  Study areas were divided into four centres, typical of compact development or smart growth, and four linear, auto-oriented corridors. Results show substantial variation in the amount of walking across study areas. Trips are shorter and more likely to be via walking in centres. A key to the centres’ increased walking travel is the concentration of local shopping and service destinations in a commercial core. Yet the amount of business concentration that is associated with highly pedestrian-oriented neighbourhoods is from three to four times as large as what can be supported by the local resident base, suggesting that pedestrian-oriented neighbourhoods necessarily import shopping trips, and hence driving trips, from larger surrounding catchment areas. The results suggest both land use and mobility strategies that can be appropriate for suburban regions. 

While the article is focused on suburban locations, the point it makes about the retail trade area of successful walking shopping districts is relevant to the urban setting also.