"We're investing in walkability," always sounds like an encouraging tagline from local governments...or does it?
"When political leadership justifies an expenditure of millions of dollars by saying it will make a place more walkable and yet the completed project, even generously assessed, fails to meet even one of the ten steps towards achieving walkability, it deserves scrutiny."
"If we’re not going to pursue walkability in a meaningful, systemic way based on the principles that actually deliver results, and we have the data available showing that pedestrian lip service in car dependent places has no appreciable impact on property values, then exactly why are we — or any of the countless places around the country doing similar projects — spending millions of dollars anyways?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Scott Doyon lays out a case in point in South Dekalb County, Georgia, for scrutiny through a 10-point Walkable City lens.
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