Fwd: The More Walkable a City Is, the More Money It Makes

[Prabhat Agarwal]

Via Vinaya Bansal

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vinaya <vba...@embarqindia.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 11:55 AM
Subject: The More Walkable a City Is, the More Money It Makes
To: sustainable...@googlegroups.com

http://www.gizmodo.in/design/The-More-Walkable-a-City-Is-the-More-Money-It-Makes/articleshow/36731052.cms

The More Walkable a City Is, the More Money It Makes

Alissa Walker, Gawker MediaJun 18, 2014, 02.50 AM IST

A focus on dense, walkable development allows cities to pack more economic punch per square foot, according to a new study. In Washington DC, deemed the most walkable U.S. city, the most walkable areas in the city take up less than one percent of the total acreage, but represent almost half of the most wealth-generating square footage for the whole city.

The study was authored by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University School of Business in conjunction with LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors. It's an initiative of Smart Growth America, which also co-authored a great study on pedestrian safety earlier this year. They've taken a different path to determine a metropolitan area's walkability, which helps to illustrate how, exactly, a more walkable place is more financially lucrative for a city.

Instead of isolating city vs. suburb, as many studies tend to do, this study acknowledges that there can be drivable communities in urban centers and walkable communities in exurbs, but that places with good walkability share common qualities: high density, a mix of real estate uses, multiple transportation options, and the ability to serve the daily needs of residents largely on foot.

To find the most walkable places in the country, rather than looking simply at a city's center, the study looked at places where walkability intersects with regional significance, meaning these are places where economy-driving development is creating wealth for these areas. They've used data from several sources including real estate values, transit information, WalkScore rankings, and census studies to locate 558 "WalkUPs," or walkable urban places, across the country, and 30 metropolitan areas are ranked by measuring the total number of office and retail square footage-the capacity for generating wealth-in those WalkUPs.

Washington DC ranks first-yes, over New York City-because of its many walkable centers which are easily connected with transit. Boston, San Francisco and Chicago round out the top five. The cool thing about examining walkability within the context of real estate is that the study can also examine the potential for walkability, so the study has also forecast which cities will be more walkable in the future. (Spoiler: Boston supplants DC as the top city.)

But the most interesting part is seeing how those WalkUP figures correlate with GDP and education level. In almost every case, a higher walkability index means more income per capita and higher educational attainment. The top ranking metropolitan areas have an average of 38 percent higher GDP per capita as compared to the low ranking metros, and 74 percent higher real estate values.

Urbanists have long tried to highlight the correlation between walkability and economic success as a way to encourage cities to incentivize denser, more transit-accessible development. Here it's clear that walkable urbanism is a key component to building the places that people want to live, shop and work-both making and spending their money. [Smart Growth America]

 

 

Regards

 

Vinaya Bansal

Project Manager – Market Alliances

EMBARQ India

WRI India, 1st Floor, Godrej & Boyce Premises, Gasworks Lane, Lalbaug, Parel, Mumbai 400012

vba...@embarqindia.org  |  +91 9167400936

 

Blog: TheCityFix.com  |  Twitter: @EMBARQIndia  |  Facebook.com/EMBARQIndia

 

www.EMBARQIndia.org

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Prabhat Agarwal

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[Bhawani Tripathy]

Very interesting!

Would love to get a copy of this study to see how it reaches this conclusion! It is easy to see the correlation between walking, good health, and resultant money saved from infamously 'expensive' private healthcare in the USA...and money saved in expensive gas by avoiding SUVs which are gas guzzlers. But it is also important to have a wide choice of alternative transport, mass rapid transport, etc.

With tongue-in-cheek, from a layman's point of view, if simple walkability results in higher GDP, then 830 million people living in 640,000 villages and hamlets in India would have been rich because they have little choice but to walk a lot!!!!!!!!      

Cheers!
Bhawani Shankar Tripathy

Cell: 9871628217

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[Devinder Chopra]

Wow!

That is indeed an amazing study done in urban-metro areas of the USA, with great depth & data, passed on by Vinaya Bansal ji of Embarqe. 

The analysis made in the metro cities, of the educated walkers, not polluting the environment, staying healthy, saving money daily, for snacks or whatever, & STAYING SAFE, ought to get replicated in the urbanised world, all over. The question arises, in our case: will the educated here dare do just that ? 

They would not have the pavement/s to walk on, stacked with parked cars/motorcycles or sprawling repair workshops or vendor's trolleys, selling affordable street foods (with mini gas cylinders) and so on.

Then, we have mostly, a hostile climate -- blazing sun in summers or the monsoons for a larger part of the year.

Viable in winters here (unlike in the West or the US) for sure IF the sidewalks were available and the office/or the workplace were within 2 km distance...or thereon.  

Cultural factors here are the biggest hindrance one suspects -- the more educated, better placed in life with better incomes would generally not do what their maid servants or drivers have to go through daily, i think.

In conclusion-- it is indeed an excellent study. It should make us think -- and apply, no?

Peace!

    

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