Despite the well established benefits of physical activity for older adults 50 years and older, this segment of the population is the most inactive. In order to support physical activity it is important to better understand the characteristic of environments which supports or constrain physical activities such as walking. The purpose of this study was to examine the building and site factors that support walking behavior among older adults in continuing care retirement communities. One principal aim of this research was to develop tools and objective measures of ‘comfort’, ‘safety’, ‘convenience’, ‘aesthetics’, and ‘legibitly’ as aspects of building layout that are related to walking among older residents. Another important aim was to create case studies that can be used for continuing education and for teaching in architecture and environmental gerontology.