Report Finds Increasing Popularity of 'Walkable Urban Places'

Smart Growth America released the Foot Traffic Ahead 2016 report this week, finding that "walkable urban places (WalkUPs) in all 30 of the largest metros are gaining market share over their drivable sub-urban competition—and showing substantially higher rental premiums."

Smart Growth America produced the report in conjunction with George Washington University’s Center for Real Estate & Urban Analysis, led by Christopher Leinberger and Michael Rodriguez.

According to a page announcing the report on the Smart Growth America website, the report ranks 30 metros "on the current percentage of occupied walkable urban office, retail, and multi-family rental square feet in their WalkUPs, compared to the balance of occupied square footage in the metro area." According to those metrics, New York City; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Chicago; San Francisco; and Seattle rank the highest, respectively.

David Alpert picked up on the news of the report for Greater Greater Washington, noting the positive performance of the Washington, D.C. area in the ranking. Among the notable findings of the report regarding the Washington, D.C. area, "the walkable development in jurisdictions outside the (or a) traditional center city. In the Washington region, half of the walkable urbanism is not inside DC, but in places like Silver Spring, Reston, and Old Town Alexandria."