Planning to Walk

In the final installment of his series on "Walking in America" on Slate, Tom Vanderbilt looks at why so much of the built environment is hostile to pedestrians, and how planning can change that.

2 minute read

April 15, 2012, 5:00 AM PDT

By Michael Dudley


It's not just enough to encourage people to walk: as Tom Vanderbilt shows, decades of planning for high-speed automobility have made walking almost impossible in some parts of metropolitan areas.

"A large part of the problem is that places...were built on the idea that there wouldn't be anyone walking on them. Indeed, there wouldn't be much of anything happening on them, except for cars speeding uninterruptedly from one dense town to another. This was the vision articulated by early optimists like Benton MacKaye and Lewis Mumford, who sounded their call for such roads in a 1931 Harper's article called 'Townless Highways for the Motorist.' Not only should highways avoid the centers of towns, they argued-in order to keep long-distance traffic from congesting already-busy urban thoroughfares- but those highways should themselves be free of commercial development.

[But] the high-speed suburban arterial became a kind of American Main Street...What's more, these arterials were typically built without any provisions for people walking-because who would be? [Pedestrians] are as invisible to society as they are to the average driver. This failure to plan for anyone on foot is just one of a number of shortcomings of our overbuilt, undermaintained road network that are coming into relief."

Instead of laying streets and planning for sidewalks later -- as has been the practice in many developments - Vanderbilt shows how more than 300 municipalities are now planning for "complete streets" that facilitate multiple modes including walking.

Friday, April 13, 2012 in Slate.com

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

Crowds of people walking and biking along waterfront in Sunset Dunes Park in San Francisco, California on a sunny day.

San Francisco Opens Park on Former Great Highway

The Sunset Dunes park’s grand opening attracted both fans and detractors.

4 hours ago - Mission Local

Portland Oregon Bus

Oregon Legislature to Consider Transit Funding Laws

One proposal would increase the state’s payroll tax by .08% to fund transit agencies and expand service.

5 hours ago - KATU.com

Houston, Texas skyline.

Housing Vouchers as a Key Piece of Houston’s Housing Strategy

The Houston Housing Authority supports 19,000 households through the housing voucher program.

6 hours ago - Urban Edge