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Retrofitting Suburbia

I’m wondering if the new development pattern in the Lakewood scheme is having any effects on transportation (i.e., what’s the VMT of people living in Belmar versus others)? And on the subject don’t miss the National Academies podcast (and paper), “Driving and the Built Environment.”

(Thanks Michael)

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 8:01 am and is filed under Cars, Cities, Commuting, Congestion, Etc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Retrofitting Suburbia”

  1. Jack Says:
    July 6th, 2010 at 8:56 am

    Certainly the ‘burbs can (and should) be) changed. However, the suburbanites I know prefer their motorized “freedom” and believe that the secret to successful businesses are directly related to the size of neighborhood parking lots. Only when the cost of gas rises dramatically and severely damages the suburbanites’ pocketbooks will they be willing to be empathetic to change. The mall referred to in St Louis still requires large parking facilities and had to change due to failed businesses (how ironic).

  2. Kevin Love Says:
    July 6th, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    I followed the link to Belmar. The site’s “directions” feature assumes that everyone going there is driving a car. Bicycle infrastructure is zero in every one of the photos.

    This place is not Gronigen. Its just another example of sprawl, albeit a bit prettier.

  3. Mark Says:
    July 15th, 2010 at 8:50 pm

    It’s going to take a “push” of increased car operating costs to really make a big change in the suburbs. The benefits of walking/biking/transit are well known, but the culture of car ownership for everyone is deeply ingrained in the American psyche.

    This presentation does make me hopeful, though.

  4. Nate Larson Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    Belmar isn’t sprawl, it’s auto-oriented postwar-suburban infill. Bradburn (about 8 miles north) is sprawl–auto-oriented faux urbanism on the suburban fringe. That Belmar has been as successful as it has without much transit at all (and no rail) shows that a fair number of people want urbanlike living, but don’t want to give up their cars for it.

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