Recession Success Story: Walkable Commercial Areas
New data show the resilience of walkable commercial areas through the recent recession. Parking minimums, however, prevent new projects from taking advantage of the strengths of such development patterns.
"Neighborhood walkability has been a huge asset for commercial landlords during the recovery from the 2008 recession," reports Matthew Yglesias using a dataset from Moody's and Real Capital Analytics that breaks down commercial real estate prices by WalkScore.
From an infographic created for the dataset, Yglesias produces the following conclusion: "whether it's in suburbs or in central business districts, prices have rebounded from the recession much more strongly in walkable areas than in car-dependent ones…"
As for why that might be, Yglesias argues that car-based retail has suffered the impacts of online retail services like Amazon. "Bars, restaurants, and homey shops that don't compete directly with Amazon work better in walkable areas."
Published on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 in
Topics
- Infographic: Space Allocation by Population in 15 U.S. Cities
- A Tipping Point in the Geography of the Creative Class?
- Denver Freeway Expansion Makes a Bad Situation Worse
- What Made It Possible for Oregon to End Single-Family Zoning?
- Master-Planned Cities in the Spotlight
- Op-Ed: Lakewood's Growth Cap Is 'Climate Arson'
- SUVs Kill Pedestrians—and They Have for a Long Time
- Study: Not All Gentrification Effects Are Equal
- Research: Transit Times Determine Social Networks
- No Quick Fixes for L.A.’s Transit Ridership Woes
- A Climate Change Preview Underway in Michigan
- The Great O'Hare Race (And its Discontents)
- Gentrification Enters Preservation Debate Surrounding NYC's Strand Bookstore
- Connect Transit in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois is Growing Ridership
- Toronto Could Give Buses and Streetcars Priority
- More EV Charging Coming to San Francisco Private and Public Parking Facilities
- Anti-Displacement Efforts and Green Infrastructure Signal Hope in Portland
- Report Makes Business Case for Vancouver-to-Portland High Speed Rail
- Bus System Redesign Boosts Ridership in Austin
- A 20-Year To-Do List for Cities
