January is consistently Australia’s busiest month for moving house – around 14-18% of the yearly total, far higher than any other month.

When people choose a new neighbourhood to live in, there are many factors to weigh up such as price, commute time, school zones and general convenience.

But research shows less obvious aspects of a neighbourhood such as walkability, aircraft noise and tree canopy can measurably improve or worsen daily health and long-term wellbeing. Yet they rarely make it onto anyone’s checklist when choosing where to live.

Here are simple clues to get a sense of how these underrated factors will affect life in a new place.

Walkability describes how easily people can reach everyday destinations on foot. It reflects a combination of how well connected streets are, distance to shops and services and how pleasant and practical it is to walk.

A recent study of over two million house moves in the United States found people who relocated to more walkable neighbourhoods took about 1,100 extra steps per day. This level of extra activity is associated with better health by lowering risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and early death.

Other studies consistently link walkable areas with better mental health and lower car dependence.

Walkability can vary widely even within the same city and similar price ranges, so it’s worth checking. Two easy tools help assess it:

the Community Walkability Map run by the........

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