![]() ![]() It has retail to provide for residents’ everyday needs and common areas where they can socialize on tree-lined public squares or by the pool.Ĭuldesac’s zero-parking model has generated skepticism. To that end, Culdesac is branding itself as a 5-minute city that is built like a town center. Culdesac’s marketing department wrote in an email that their refusal to build parking helped shave possibly $60/month off rents, and freed up lots of space to build common areas. Studio apartments currently are projected to rent for $1,090/month, and 1-bedrooms for $1,250, which is markedly lower than Tempe’s median 1-bedroom rent. “As of last week,” writes Sandy Smith, “33 leases have been signed for the 260 units slated to open between summer 2022 and spring 2023, and another 300 prospective tenants have put down $100 deposits to remain on the project’s waiting list.” NextCity reports that leases and deposits have increased recently as the complex prepares to open. At phase 1’s full buildout, the 761-unit complex will house 1,000 residents and is adjacent to light rail and bus lanes, providing more convenient access to downtown Tempe and Arizona State University. Residents are explicitly forbidden from parking within a quarter-mile radius of the project. Metro Phoenix is also growing significantly, adding about 700,000 since 2010, and much of that growth can be characterized as auto-dependent sprawl.Ĭuldesac Tempe is the opposite-a $170 million planned development set to open next year, it touts itself as America’s first car-free development. Tempe is not exactly an urbanist paradise, with a population density of 5,101/sqm (versus 8,662 in an inner-ring Boston suburb, for instance), and a car ownership rate roughly around the national average. A leading one in Tempe, AZ, going by “Culdesac,” forbids parking altogether. But some master-planned developments are bursting this bubble by encouraging walkability and reducing the role cars play in neighborhood life. As I wrote in a previous Catalyst article, this leads to a vicious cycle, as valuable space is allocated to cars, forcing residents to rely on them and preventing other development and transport styles from achieving mass adoption. A variety of regulations, subsidies, and other government policies have engineered the outcome, and one primary example at the local level is parking minimums. America has, since the mid-20th century, encouraged automobiles to dominate the built landscape. ![]()
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