Biggest suburb gets a new downtown as walkable becomes legal (2024)

FAQs

Can suburbs become walkable? ›

Cities, towns, and neighborhoods encourage pedestrians by providing benches under the shade of trees. Wide streets without sidewalks can be improved by adding or widening existing sidewalks. Designated parking areas can keep parked cars off the streets so that pedestrians and bikers have plenty of visibility.

The grid network is built around the idea of people walking from place to place, but the suburbs rely on cars. And curved streets allow cars to travel faster than the grid network, which has constant stops at intersections.

Walkability results in higher neighborhood housing values. Walkability also reduces neighborhood abandonment and crime. Suggests additional research which might show walkability means longer lifespan.

Suburban homes typically come with a backyard, garage, deck, or patio as well ‒ features unavailable to most city dwellers. It's an increasingly popular choice for young families looking for more space and a lower cost of living.

Limited Amenities and Services: Suburbs may have fewer amenities and services compared to cities. Access to certain types of restaurants, shops, cultural events, and entertainment venues may be more limited.

Increasingly, they moved out of cities and into suburban areas. In a new paper co-authored with Hyojung Lee, we found that this suburbanization may have been motivated by the lack of affordable and right-sized housing in urban areas, factors that outweighed proximity to desirable amenities.

78% of those indicated that they would be willing to pay more to live in a walkable community. 85% said sidewalks and places to walk are very/somewhat important. 65% said having public transport nearby is very/somewhat important. 56% said they would prefer a house with a small yard and be able to walk to places vs.

When you live in the suburbs, renting becomes less feasible if you want more space. After growing up in a city and living in one as a young adult, I can say with certainty that suburbia is a better fit for me. More space, fewer crowds, and lower expenses are all appealing reasons to move out of a big city.

By enabling residents to walk, the risk of health problems such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease can be reduced. Moreover, walkability helps mitigate the spread of contagious diseases, as people are outdoors rather than confined in crowded subway cars or buses.

Why is the US so unwalkable? ›

"The lack of sidewalks or even paved shoulders is a big problem," he said. "Many neighborhoods across the country don't have sidewalks on either side of the street. This is because many cities don't spend the money on sidewalk installations and don't even require developers to build sidewalks in housing areas."

Community: Having enough people to support businesses. Safe Pedestrian Infrastructure: Offering easily accessible transit services, complete streets and safe paths for biking or walking. Affordable Housing: Providing attainable housing at varying income levels.

A: If you're talking about a suburb within a reasonable range of a city, it can survive if it has a thriving older population. It just won't draw the young families that are a great economic force.

But like examples of central city gentrification, inner-ring suburban residential redevelopment may result in the displacement of existing residents, limit housing choice by reducing the stock of smaller, affordable (or mid-priced) housing, and alter the physical and socio-economic characteristics of neighborhoods.

Cities and places that have a high level of greenery both on streets, including trees and planting on streets and buildings as well as regular open green spaces and parks, have been shown to increase the levels that people walk.