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The Rise of Walkable Urbanism

7 February 2008 - 5:00am

Photo: Christopher LeinbergerThis podcast features a discussion with Christopher Leinberger, author of "The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream". Leinberger discusses the two types of development in the country: "drivable suburbanism" and "walkable urbanism".

Leinberger talks about how government policies have encouraged drivable suburbanism for the last sixty years, and how the market is now shifting towards the more traditional walkable neighborhoods and developments.

This interview was conducted by Jennifer Pullinger, E-Content Editor at Island Press. Leinberger's book "The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream" can be purchased through Island Press.

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Walkable Urbanism & Planning for Peak Oil

Submitted by Mike_Morin on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 11:41.

Government policies, be they state, local, or Federal have actually been favoring automobility for about 100 years now, although the advent of the Interstate program in the 1950's escalated the trend.

I've been reading Owen Gutfreund's book "20th Century Sprawl". The most important fact regarding road building in the 20th century is that for the most part, drivers (and the fueling of suburbanization) have not paid their own way. Much of the development of our current driver dominated environments has been paid for greatly by general revenues and bonds. Gas taxes haven't kept up with expenditures for road building and maintenence.

I tried to find Leinberger's book at the city and University Libraries, here in Eugene, OR . Neither has it. I asked the City Library to buy it. They put in a request. Hopefully, I'll get to read this book soon.

We need to recognize that the oil age will be coming to end in the next few generations if we don't stop the current squandering. The people of the United States use the equivalent of twenty million barrels of oil a day for transportation purposes. That's fuel that is unavailable for heating, hot water, cooking, and electricity both currently and in the future. The age of the automobile is a historic flash in the pan. We need to recognize this. Americans were born with their hands attached to a steering wheel, and boy will their children complain.

It is time that we reversed the trend favoring automobility. I know this will be an unpopular idea, but it is time to raise gas taxes to fund the rebuilding of neighborhoods to make them walkable,and more mass transit. Concurrently, raising gas taxes will help encourage more people to look beyond the assumption of the automobile as a fact of life. We need to bite the bullet and make some brave choices regarding a sustainable and equitable future for our progeny.

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The interdisciplinary nature of these challenges justifies a more decisive federal policy that helps metropolitan areas promote energy and location-efficient development.
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