I Visited Culdesac Tempe and I Have Thoughts

[@CityNerd]

Oh and if you didn't notice, new studio setup in a new city. It's a work in progress, but be on the lookout for some improvement sin production quality. Wanna support what I do? Sign up for Nebula, the creator-owned streaming service, and get all my videos early AND ad-free. Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel. go.nebula.tv/citynerd Also STILL available: the Lifetime offer! $300 for Nebula as long as both you and Nebula exist, and a full 1/3 of the price goes directly to support this channel. go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=citynerd And! Gift cards -- get the same deals using my code, but gift a membership to someone who needs weekly (ad-free and promo-free) Nerd propaganda! gift.nebula.tv/citynerd

[@MrFolton17]

@@CityNerd where are you currently at if you don’t mind me asking?

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

honestly the new audio compared to your previous videos is harder to understand, I have to turn the volume up because I feel like the parts of your voice that carry less information are being amplified while the parts of your voice that I want to listen to to understand you are made quieter.

[@charliesullivan4304]

Sin production? That should help a lot with the KZbin algorithm, although you might you lose some of your regular audience.

[@alex_pincha]

@@MrFolton17 I guess we'll know in the future, but I'll put money it's a purple state (given that an election is coming, per a previous comment about that being a factor for choosing to live in Vegas)

[@MrFolton17]

@@alex_pincha oh right he mentioned that. I weirdly hope he went to Michigan haha

[@derick-smith]

I'm from Detroit and I love cars. I'm one of the hardest nuts to crack when it comes to separating from vehicles because I love to drive so much. That said... your content is opening my eyes to things I hadn't considered before. I'm even starting to see a possible future for myself that doesn't involve a metal box. I know you catch a lot of flack from ignorant humans but those of us with critical thinking skills really appreciate the content!

[@Shane_Shaney]

From Detroit here too. Ray (aka citynerd) is supposed to visit our city soon!

[@highway2heaven91]

Glad to see more people checking out urbanist content

[@Will140f]

I don’t own a car anymore but I used to be a big car guy. I just realized that what I want to do is zoom around fast as hell and not sit in traffic, and 95% of my driving was slow zones or traffic on the highway. So I sold my mustang and I just go to the track and rent somethin sporty to get my zoomies fix. It’s expensive but still cheaper than owning a car

[@LockheedMartinEnjoyer]

I'm convinced you're a masochist if you like driving in Michigan.

[@sejjr79ify]

You’re seeing the light, awesome

[@seattlegrrlie]

I love all way, scramble, cross walk. It allows pedestrians to get all the way across, minimizes the risk of getting hit by a turning car, and forces cars to unconsciously recognize pedestrians as users who are allowed on the road. I'm seeing more and more usage and I really like it

[@fronkus123]

A big issue is that the walk signal does not come on when the cars in the same direction have a green. It means pedestrians going straight legally have to wait even longer, while people going diagonally have to wait the same amount of time as a normal cycle. I always see people looking confused that they don’t have a straight walk signal, and they end up shrugging and crossing anyway, illegally. Not very well designed.

[@chrisgeorge74]

​@@fronkus123that's just an issue with that programming. There's one in Miami that does the normal walk signals plus the scramble so no one's waiting extra

[@sunglassesemojis]

The one near me had this issue, compounded by the car signals being pretty long. Most of the time pedestrians just jaywalk across 1 direction at a time because it takes so much less time than waiting for the scramble signal

[@Lildizzle420]

@@fronkus123 its really not that complicated when people learn how crosswalks work, its just that people don't care or they think it's broken when its not

[@subjekt5577]

It's great, so long as you keep the normal walk signals.

[@secondengineer9814]

I think one key point about Tempe is that it is boxed in, while most other cities in Phoenix have open space to expand to. Because of that Tempe is incentivized to build up rather than out

[@scottcates]

I agree. Pretty much all development in Tempe is infill.

[@anrmlumlwundlistr7620]

"Biked in"

[@Fidel_cashflo]

It's pretty much solely cause of ASU that it has urban qualities

[@phxpaul]

Infill, and vertical growth.

[@dantastic7]

Our entire economy is basically built around ASU, so we can't really stray too far.

[@avibarr2751]

The best part about Culdesac is the non-grid layout of tight, narrow streets. It is reminiscent of old medieval European villages

[@charliesullivan4304]

Fortunately, you are unlikely to get lost now that we all carry GPS devices.

[@bernardfinucane2061]

I just like the fact that the building shade the streets. Anything else is brain dead in a climate like Arizona's.

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

Also no asphalt

[@liveculdesac]

Thank you! Our narrow streets help keep the neighborhood shaded and beautiful :)

[@tombraiderstrums09]

Ok, do urbanists like grids, or not? I’m super confused

[@blakehartung5095]

Tempe resident here! I bike to work at ASU, and the bike infrastructure is only getting better

[@liveculdesac]

Definitely, the city is making big investments in bike infrastructure!

[@puddud4]

Tempe is putting in some serious work on municipalities and the community is rising up around it Google Tempe Bike Projects and you'll see what I mean Then you have places like the bicycle cellar. Located at the bus and light rail hub this bike shop offers storage and showers for a monthly subscription of I think $30/month. This makes bike commuting much more palatable for ASU students as well as people that work downtown (who often have to pay for parking). For Mountain Biking we're home to Pivot bicycles. In addition to that many companies do testing at South Mountain and other cites around the valley. For Ebikes Phoenix is home to Lectric. This is a great place to be

[@ashcoates3168]

I pray we get bike lanes on rural road

[@puddud4]

@@ashcoates3168 Rural is scary. College Ave or the canal paths are the way to go

[@muskepticsometimes9133]

@@ashcoates3168 I would not bike on Rural Rd even w/ bike lane

[@davidtardio9804]

Heard on the news yesterday that LA is planning on doing some major transit upgrades in preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympics. Sounds like a good future video topic, don’t you think?

[@JacobAaron97]

Hopefully they started 6 years ago 😂

[@ab8817]

yeah this is just to move tourists around DTLA to spend money to specific areas that will be abandoned after the olympics. its not going to solve residents' commute problems.

[@benjaminf8526]

Talking about all the issues and drawbacks that come with that kind of Olympics development would still be a great video!

[@selanryn5849]

@@benjaminf8526 It's literally all transit developments. LA isn't building any venues. They already have all the venues they need.

[@faheemabbas3965]

They should fix their homeless problem first imo.

[@bethmcdonagh1680]

As a resident of Bologna, Italy - the city which has a UNESCO world heritage-approved set of arcades/porticoes - I often wonder why every city in the world that is either very hot or very wet doesn't line its streets with arcades. It seems like a natural choice but it's quite rare. Great video by the way, as always!

[@charliesullivan4304]

I think one of the reasons that it's not more common in the US is that the development in our hottest regions after air conditioning and automobiles became the norm, and there wasn't an expectation for anyone to go outside and walk in the heat.

[@joeturner9692]

I recently visited Bologna (awesome city) and I had the same thought about the porticoes. Really handy when you're caught in the rain!

[@mindstalk]

The US prefers mandating a 20 foot / 6 meter front setback for houses, and front parking lots for commercial areas.

[@sympathetic_crustacean]

The city of Bologna mandated arcades/porticoes not because it would be nice to protect residents from the elements, but to add housing density. This decision was taken hundreds of years ago when Bologna relied on protective walls as defense against invasion and, at the same time, was growing in population. Where to house these people if you cannot expand outwards? Build housing over the sidewalks, i.e. create arcades/porticos. One additional effect of this decision is that it made Bologna's architecture visually striking, indeed imo one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

[@foreversolvent5334]

@@sympathetic_crustacean Well said.

[@NelsonBrown]

I hope Culdesac is successful. I think that will inspire more investment in similar projects elsewhere.

[@liveculdesac]

Thanks for your support! We aim to inspire more walkable development all across the U.S.

[@Vidasinvida]

I hope so too! ❤ We need less car dependency cities

[@NelsonBrown]

One of my big worries is how to transition from our current system to better urbanism. Eventually it needs to be bigger than individual developers. City government and chambers of commerce need to be won over, and I think successful case studies will help.

[@tysonfontanez]

The reason Tempe is so much more walkable is, in my opinion, because it's a college town. Downtown Tempe is less than a mile away from ASU's main campus. ASU is one of the largest universities in the world in terms of enrollment, and the main campus houses thousands of out-of-state and even out-of-country residents during all months of the year. So, unlike Phoenix, the city of Tempe is heavily incentivized to be able to accommodate many people who don't have access to cars, because the core of their commerce comes from students

[@alex_pincha]

There's def a campus design pattern, parts of this video resemble Ann Arbor's State st. which is crazy.

[@anthonysnyder1152]

He does mention this in the video actually.

[@davidfl4]

Literally. I live in Phoenix and I don’t see this working literally anywhere else except maybe downtown and a few other areas. Where I live everything is at least 15-20 minutes away by car.

[@lok777]

@@davidfl4 This thing is just a big apartment complex without parking. I have lived in PHX without a car, and it is not even in a great location for walking/biking.

[@hkiller57]

@@alex_pincha Im assuming the parts of this video you are talking about is when he is walking along Mill Ave which is the big bar and dining scene for ASU

[@NickCombs]

I moved from Chandler (just south of Tempe and Mesa) to Lincoln City, OR in 2019 because there just wasn't anything reasonably priced and I was tired of the heat and lack of seasons and greenery. Anything affordable was either a rundown shack or way out in Maricopa or Queen Creek. That's an hour drive into the city if you're lucky. Now I'm in a coastal rainforest and I don't drive at all. The only downsides are that (A) there's no rail connection to Salem or Newport and (B) I moved to a rural neighborhood just outside of town and have to bike on highway 101 for a short but scary half mile. Luckily, they just started building a multi-use path on that exact stretch of road. There's wetland along part of it, so that path is also going to be a boardwalk!

[@CityNerd]

Oh man, I worked on some of the planning in Lincoln City! Glad to hear they're implementing some stuff from the transportation system plan. There's definitely intercity bus service you can take to Newport and Salem, unless they changed something.

[@NickCombs]

@@CityNerd Thanks for your service! There's one unmarked bus stop on my end of the proposed boardwalk. It has 1-2 busses per day, and I'd have to call in advance to let them know to pick me up there. The bus routes get better in the city limits.

[@JorgeGarcia-gp5cf]

How are the prices out in that area of Oregon? Are they drastically better than the prices in the Valley?

[@NickCombs]

@@JorgeGarcia-gp5cf I found a 1000 sq ft house for $250k with a nice lake view, but that was before covid. A quick search of the area today shows only a couple smaller houses under $400k. Houses in the valley were already in that price range in 2019, but it looks like they haven't increased much since.

[@JorgeGarcia-gp5cf]

@@NickCombs Man, you got a steal for that price! It sounds more reasonable than the prices in the Valley right now. The worst was I saw a one bedroom condo worth 300,000k in a crappy part of Mesa.

[@POINTS2]

We have all been waiting for CityNerd to visit Culdesac. Thanks for the review!

[@liveculdesac]

We were excited to have him visit!

[@cieproject2888]

The disdain Mr Nerd has for normal winter weather never ceases to amaze. I live in the Northeast, and I enjoy my cold months of studded tires, thank you very much!

[@adventureisntfar]

Yeah. I can always add another layer of clothes. I don't think I will ever understand that disdain because the hear just keeps me inside all day. It's like S.A.D. for the south

[@blueninja012]

I absolutely disdain heat

[@personperso9429]

I want Culdesac North

[@mfman2]

When you’re from the Pacific Northwest the thought of a “real” winter causes enough shivering on its own for one to never want to consider actually living in a place like that.

[@TereniaDelamay]

Living in Ottawa. I hate the winter. There's a reason bike use drops to barely anything. Even taking the bus becomes a painful ordeal.

[@kiosk5595]

I’ve said it before, Tempe is the urban core of Phoenix itself, and considering how centrally located it is, how good the transit provisions are, how much better the nightlife is, and how vital ASU is to the metro economy, it’s not unreasonable to say

[@wilycoyote1924]

Phoenix has three nightlife centers. Downtown Tempe is one. However, if you're not 22 or younger, it isn't one you'll ever want to frequent. For the college crowd it's great, though. There is also Old Town Scottsdale, which is probably seen by most as the best. However, for me, it is too suburban and too obsessed with image. It is downtown Phoenix for me easily. It is very hipster. It is much more my style. I loved living downtown for a decade and walking to go out every Friday and Saturday. Also, as for the economy, downtown Tempe/Tempe Town Lake, Phoenix's Biltmore/Camelback Corridor, and Old Town Scottsdale are the office centers of the metro and the most important GDP centers.

[@TheTrueProxy]

@@wilycoyote1924 Agreed. If you aren't a college student it's awful. Why would you want to hang out with 18 year olds with fake IDs? Also agreed that Downtown Phoenix has the best crowd. Scottsdale has a lot of rich aholes. Unfortunately, DTPHX is becoming more and more like Scottsdale recently.

[@CityNerd]

Don't know if I'd go that far but it's not an unreasonable thing to say

[@lok777]

@@wilycoyote1924 West side has a bunch of crap now too. The city is massive.

[@seffievondionysus3198]

@@CityNerd It's almost dead-center of the desirable parts of the greater metro area, downtown phoenix proper, Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale. The vibe of Mill Ave also seems to be the most lively and distinct area of the metro area

[@Austin6403]

As someone who lives in Tempe, i enjoyed both Arizona videos. Well done

[@liveculdesac]

We're grateful to have had CityNerd at Culdesac! Come visit sometime for a coffee or quick bite to eat :)

[@AdamGamingClips]

I worked as an intern on the design of this project back in 2021-2022! Cool Video!

[@frameshifty]

Tempe is my hometown. It's wild to see how much it has changed every time I go to visit. The light rail is pretty nice!

[@lwrncschmchr]

Me too. It's not the town I grew up in anymore, for sure. But that's ok, Harry Mitchell's vision really did succeed there. I miss the Mill Avenue of my youth (late 80s-early 90s) but I stay off the Tempe FB groups, because everybody on them is mad that it's not the same place as when they were growing up.

[@stephenmellentine]

@@lwrncschmchr Arizona native here and ASU student '93-'97, Tempe resident '93-'00. I really miss the Mill Avenue of the 1990s to early aughts. Live in Ahwatukee (Phoenix community, for those unfamiliar) since 2001 and even this area is showing its age and just slow decay. Boulevard trees are dying due to record heat 3 out of the last 4 years and even residents' backyard trees are dying off from the extreme, persistent heat. These homes were not made in the early 1990s with this level of local climate change in mind. /rant

[@MrFolton17]

I’ve been waiting for this one CityNerd. You’re my hero!

[@freddyalexander3001]

Shoutout Riverside Tempe!! Been living car free for 2 years now

[@carlieandmannyplays1026]

If you ever have a chance to visit Tucson I would recommend exploring the streetcar system. It is a short route but connects the most walkable areas of town. University of Arizona and the Mercado district have beautiful architecture.

[@michaelmuncy3593]

Not to mention the 130+ miles of carless bike paths! Love Tucson.

[@ravinmarokef]

I want more/better public transit in Tucson so badly - I was very jealous of the light rail the first time I used in in PHX and while I do use the streetcar, 90% of the time biking or taking the bus is more efficient. It would be great to expand it down Campbell towards Ft. Lowell and still wish there was some line that went all the way down Speedway or one of the other major E-W roads.

[@coasterjaz89]

Long time Arizona resident, never lived in Tempe, however I have spent a ton of time hanging out on Mill Ave over the years. I grew into a larger urbanist during my travels around the country and visiting other countries. Arizona deserves better for sure. Thank you for showcasing this exciting new development type.

[@liveculdesac]

Thank you for your support!

[@therainbro]

I live in Tempe, not at culdesac, but usually pass this area on my runs a few days a week. I have a few mixed reactions. Phoenix itself is HEAVILY car dependent. Yes, the light rail runs right in the middle on Apache, but I think people forget about how hot it gets during the summer. I have used the light rail, and it’s nice, but like he mentioned in the video, that’s it. There aren’t any other routes. People always complain about expanding the light rail because “ThE hOmeLEsS wIlL CoMe”, and that stops any development. There are a few neat shops nearby, but I feel like people would get tired of the same option over and over again. A lot of the time, you would need to use Uber/Lyft to get to a restaurant you want to go to, as they are far away from the light rail. The concept is awesome, but it’s hard when the city is built on using cars

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

People are so ignorant. My response to that comment about homelessness is, so what? Are they not human?? do they not have the right to use transportation the same as anyone? It's appalling the way people talk about them like they're animals or an infestation. Just because someone's temporarily on hard times or might not have a fixed address doesn't make them a danger, an animal or an inherent risk to anyone! I've never understood this type of bias and bigotry against the less fortunate. Nobody is saying anyone has to take them home with them but they have the same exact rights to exist in public as anyone fucking else, and it's really quite amazing to me that this even has to be said. the last perfectly socially accepted dehumanizing social discrimination. Also I would say yes no doubt we might (if you can even tell someone's homeless because you can't always) but again- so what? Is that any reason to cheat ourselves out of an important and beneficial public development???? How ignorant! Is it really that hard to simply see the occasional homeless person? This obsession and disgusting overfocus on the perceived homeless population is sad and ridiculous. They make an easy public scapegoat for everything, so I suppose that they're the easy and logical go-to in a conversation when one doesn't want to share their true objection about a proposed project. And if these same ignorant handwringing POS's are worried about drugs, news flash sweetheart, drugs are everywhere and you're an idiot if you think only the homeless have them you're a moron. Having to see, come across, cross paths with, or occasionally ride across from a potential homeless person is hardly enough of a reason to oppose the expansion of something as helpful and fundamentally useful as local light rail. People who are that concerned about suspected homeless commuters need to get a grip and get over themselves. There are plenty of housed and well-dressed people whose pockets are full of recreational substances and/or who regularly engage in petty retail theft. It's not always the poor, low income or homeless. People can stop blaming the homeless for everything now.

[@boston_octopus_442]

​@@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999 Yes, yes, yes! Their only option is to camp outside, yet city governments come with bulldozers to remove them. Where are people supposed to sleep? Or even relieve themselves?

[@the_travelingbreeze]

I live in Avondale, AZ, and I just visited Culdesac, Tempe on Monday. I wish I could live there, but the job I'm going to class for would likely require me to travel all over the Phoenix area, so I'm reluctant to go car free. I wish Culdesac, and other car-free communities, the best of luck because car-centric infrastructure is the bane of my existence.

[@franhughes5840]

Are there other carefree communities in the US? (I don't count Macinac Island, which is a land of the v, v wealthy.)

[@the_travelingbreeze]

@@franhughes5840 I'm not sure if there are other car-free communities to the extent of Culdesac, but KZbinrs City Nerd and NotJustBikes are highlighting cities and countries making an effort to reduce the need for cars with things like banning cars on certain streets, putting in more bike lanes, adding more train stops, etc. Those two have videos on the most walkable cities, which are almost the same as talking about car-free communities.

[@the_travelingbreeze]

@@franhughes5840 This KZbin channel is a good start

[@greenpurl8482]

I went to ASU in the 70s and do not recognize present day Tempe! Beats the heck out of me how I rode my bike in the summer....

[@slartibartfast1268]

It wasn't as hot back then and you were a lot younger.

[@TheTrueProxy]

The Busan market is so good it's worth visiting even if you have to leave your car elsewhere. Plus the coffee shop is exceptional as well. Really good collection of shops.

[@liveculdesac]

Thanks for your support! We're so grateful for our amazing local shops here.

[@ShadLife]

I love the idea of having car free communities. I think having cars and people intermixed is a big issue when in dense urban areas. Whenever I travel to a place in the US where there is decent public transportation (NYC, Boston, and Chicago come to mind) I don't rent a car because I don't need to. But the issue is that when I am walking or cycling around, it can be pretty sketchy with all the roads and cars not noticing or caring you are there. I feel like keeping traffic out of the dense urban areas would make living and visiting there a lot better. People can park on the outskirts (Park & Ride??) and then get around without their vehicles. I live in Minneapolis and whenever I go downtown I do just that. I toss my bicycle in the back of my car, drive to the outskirts, park, then hop on my bicycle to go into downtown. No congestion, parking hassles, and I can get around much...much quicker!

[@lalakerspro]

Thats why I love park and rides at stations. I can drive 5-7 mins to my subway station, then ride straight to the city

[@Mr_Wallet]

Having a place with no resident parking in the Phoenix Metro is definitely a more extreme stance though. Like yeah, some people will make it work and more power to them, but city-wide change has to be way more incremental. If you want to get "normal" folks on board, who already own 1-2 cars and want the ability to quickly and cheaply get to all the places they go every week or two without feeling like a fool because they sold their car just to Uber everywhere, then it'll take a more incremental approach. I automatically assumed that Culdesac would have a resident garage way off in the corner of the development which had a small capacity for residents to lease, so yeah, your car is there if you need it, it's just more walking than groceries, pharmacy, gym etc. to get to the car, but then the whole non-transit-friendly metro area opens up to you. The fact that it's explicitly car-free for all residents means I'm _only_ going to have members of the "F cars" subreddit for neighbors, and I'm not sure I feel great about that. I resent being forbidden to own a car only slightly less than I resent being obligated to use a car for _everything._ I live in this metro and I have felt far, far more safe (and quiet) walking on the sidewalks of basically any non-American city in a developed economy, as well as several American ones. We don't need the whole city to be a car-free Utopia to make things pleasant to walk around in. Culdesac has a vision and more power to them but I don't think it's going to work for the median resident of the Phoenix metro area within my lifetime, if ever, because the wider metro area outside of these enclaves can only change so quickly to accommodate being able to get to and from there without a car. Residents of this development are trying to get something through sheer force of will, and it's not a great model for how to choosing battles sensibly and Judo the city at large away from total car dependence.

[@Madaboutmada]

Just checked out the rent for a one bedroom and for how crazy-expensive Phoenix is, this is not too crazy.

[@fronkus123]

Living in Tempe, you can get pretty far with a bike and the orbit buses. I can go most places without a car (most of my trips are to downtown and ASU campus) and I basically only drive when I’m going out with friends. Unfortunately Tempe’s bike network is meh and doesn’t have very good coverage, and biking along the arterial streets is awful. It gets worse the farther away from ASU you go.

[@Lildizzle420]

we need those bike lanes on rural and southern

[@wilycoyote1924]

*Living in north Tempe. South Tempe is as suburban as Gilbert or Scottsdale.

[@madelineduffin1352]

my son is going to ASU Tempe on Thursday from Alberta, Canada. We have never owned a car so car free communities and promotion of alternative transportation is really exciting. I will be eager to see the photos and videos he sends me about his adventures in Tempe!

[@liveculdesac]

Thanks for the support! We're excited to see so much energy around walkable communities and Culdesac in Tempe!

[@alexhaowenwong6122]

5:26 Phoenix might not have mandated shade structures, but Singapore's shophouses all come with shaded arcades, and there shade structures on every pedestrian bridge and even on every walkway between a subway station and a public housing estate.

[@mindstalk]

also look up wikipedia "five foot way"

[@markknecht9416]

We lived in a 5 over 1 type place in Sunnyvale for a couple of years. It was nice living with a couple of restaurants and a real grocery store but what we couldn't handle was all the noise at 4AM when Cisco trucks showed up to make retail deliveries. Technically they were breaking Sunnyvale noise-at-night laws but the police wouldn't do anything about it and Cisco wouldn't change the delivery schedules. I'll be interested to see how this eventually works out at Culdesac.

[@5mintify]

Sysco

[@markknecht9416]

@@5mintify - Thanks. Yes, Sysco, not Cisco. Too many years living in Silicon Valley!

[@charliesullivan4304]

How much of the noise was the engines? I'm wondering if electric delivery vehicles will help. Maybe combined with some other steps to reduce the other noisy aspects.

[@markknecht9416]

@@charliesullivan4304 - some of it was engines and that would be improved. However a lot of it was big metal doors being opened, ramps being dropped on the pavement, stuff rolling around. It was a mess and we were up on the 4th floor so we even had a little distance. In the case of Culdesac none of City Nerd's pictures communicated where delivery trucks would be parking and idling when deliveries are going on. Once the palettes with boxes are on the ground in then getting them into the retail spaces should be fairly quiet, and this would be much better than the place we lived where there were retail parking lots all around us.

[@roomie4rent]

@@markknecht9416 Wouldn't a car free community also be delivery truck free? Wouldn't they idle/park on the perimeter of the zone and wheel everything in, like in Europe?

[@KF7FDB]

The big problem I see with this is just how the Phoenix area is setup and operates. It's not uncommon to work in a different part of the city than where you live and if you have any friends, it's not uncommon for them to be scattered all around the entire Phoenix Metro area. Driving 20-30 minutes to meetup with friends, go to work, go to a specific store, or do an activity is extremely normalized and good luck doing any of those without a car. I guess if you are just moving to the city and don't know anybody, it could work though.

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

Having the light rail stop right there in front of the area is a huge benefit.

[@liveculdesac]

It's great to have the light rail and bus stops so close! It's very convenient for residents to get around on the metro here :)

[@wgcdrelliot8989]

As a non- American, i always thought that the only parts of the US that have reasonably walkable places are in New England area and only the ones that were built pre-1900s, so i guess not all hope is lost for the US

[@ThePoliceDonut]

I know it falls under the pre-1900s catalog, but San Francisco is incredibly walkable as well!

[@ChrisGnam]

Just so you're aware of the local terminology, "New England" only refers to New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and most of it is extremely rural. It notably does not include New York City, Philadelphia, or Washington DC (3 of our most walkable/bikable and transit developed cities). I believe the region youre referring to is the "North East Megalopolis", which is the region containing Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Providence, and Boston, all of which have rail public transit systems, and are connected by the "North East Corridor" (Amtrak's busiest corridor by far). That said, as this channel points out, there are good urban pockets in most US cities. The problem is they're usually isolated and small. There are amazing pre-war neighborhoods that can be found everywhere in the US. But many are sorely lacking in public transit and most are now among the most expensive (read: desireable) places to live

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

A common misconception, because of the fact that the east coast does have the most amount of genuinely walkable places. Other than that, you'll find strong walkable cities in the midwest like Chicago, Cleveland, St Louis, Madison, etc, northwest city centers like Portland and Seattle and any city/town with a major campus like he said in the video. On top of that, anywhere with preserved pre war infrastructure is usually pretty good, it's just that so many of those places have been demolished, or made less walkable by post war car infrastructure.

[@DivinesLegacy]

I’d say most downtowns are in most cities are “walkable”, problem is not a lot of people live there. All we need to do is build more housing there.

[@pavelow235]

As an American I always thought that all Europeans lived in huts with grass roofs.😅

[@bschubert17]

Great video on Culdesac! Can't wait to see them expand -- both their Tempe location and into Mesa (and, hopefully, Phoenix). Would love to see more car-free and car-lite developments along the Valley Metro network!! The Phoenix area gets a bad reputation (partially deserved) for sprawl, but there are some amazing things happening here -- and an AMAZING community of Urbanists advocating for change. Thanks for the video!!

[@liveculdesac]

Thanks for your support! We're excited to see so many passionate urbanists advocating for change in Phoenix!

[@williamfoster5184]

I’m actively working construction on the phase 2 of culdesac Tempe lol

[@phoebehill953]

This seems like a wonderful idea in a temperate climate, not a place that had over 100° temperatures for over 100 days this summer!

[@coastalhillbilly3419]

Existing cities could try to incorporate a hybrid walk, bike, car version. Human & bike only space could be the last 50 yards between entrances & walkways of shopping centers, restaurants, outdoor dining, farmers markets, parks, ect Everyone’s looking to get steps in anyways

[@nlabanok]

Moved my daughter into ASU's main campus in Tempe in 109F weather the past weekend. I lived in the Phoenix area for 20 years but have now been away in a much cooler location for 7 years now....ANYWAY, it's hard to describe with any meaning how oppressively hot it is there from late June through September... sometimes October too. But, Nov through May are just heaven....so, 4 months hell on earth, 8 months perfection. I really like what Tempe is doing to make the city liveable / walkable but geez Louise those 4 months are a rough, rough ride and definitely not for everyone.

[@TheKelly1951]

Actually it's 5 plus months of very hot weather in Phoenix

[@stephenmellentine]

@@TheKelly1951 Yup; the week before Halloween is when the 100°F temps end.

[@waytoobiased]

one benefit I'm seeing in this footage of Culdesac's approach is that they're able to design spaces that are much more visually unique than many residential areas. Now I want to see what that can look like in other parts of the country too

[@grahamturner2640]

There are some classes during the summer at ASU, but few people do it.

[@DaxSkrai]

Phoenix, and especially Tempe (due to the higher population of young people who might actually be interested in this, and the surprisingly robust and simple public transportation system), might be the actual best case for a car-free neighborhood. Without any snow, there's no chance that a snowstorm will force you to stay inside, and without roads for a plow to clear a bigger storm would prevent anybody from being able get around until it melted, which isn't likely in the middle of winter somewhere much further north. I'm almost positive there are ways this could be mitigated or prevented, but I doubt any are very easy. If you shovel your sidewalk, it's going to end up in some other part of the neighborhood that also needs to be shoveled without yards and things to pile it all into. Obviously the heat sucks, but shade is huge for keeping cool there. I grew up in Phoenix and Tempe. Having the buildings close enough to shade each other makes the summer at least bearable, for people who are used to the weather there anyways. Not gonna be going for any mid-afternoon jogs, however, no matter how much shade there is. Those are my thoughts, anyways.

[@liveculdesac]

Thanks for your support! Tempe has great weather for walking and biking, especially with expanding cooling and shade efforts by the community & city :)

[@adedayoologunde3055]

Culdesac Tempe in a strange way feels like this era's Levittown - whereas Levittown existing as an archetype for the American mass-produced suburb, Culdesac might end up representing walkable-ish ground-up neighborhoods

[@sol_in.victus]

Biggest problem IMO from these type of transit oriented developments is they seem to treat it almost as a novelty and while the neighbourhoods themselves might be really nice, they're disconnected islands of urbanism which is why even if these exist everyone in america still drives to work, you need to have the whole metro area at least somewhat connected by transit so people can actually get to their jobs/other places (i mean, who has all of their friends, their job, 3rd places just in their neighbourhood?)

[@slartibartfast1268]

In an existing urban environment, you have to start somewhere.

[@traveller23e]

Regarding your comment about its not being comfortable to eat outside before 10 PM, I'll add the observation that various Mediterranean regions have the cultural tendency to eat later than their more northern counterparts. Not sure if that's something people in Tempe do as well, but it certainly has its advantages.

[@seriousbees]

Biking in the northeast in winter is fine! People gotta get over it! I dont use studded tires either. There may be slushy days or icy days you avoid riding but same situation with other weather where you might not want to ride like excessive rain or heat

[@joeldavis5815]

Great video as usual.

[@CityNerd]

I appreciate that!

[@malcolmschenot6352]

When I lived in Phoenix I was driving 25-30K miles a year, just driving to clients and visiting friends. I was there for 11 years and took a bus twice. I've lived in Los Angeles for 20 years now and work from home, and only drove 4k miles last year, even though I live in the far west San Fernando Valley (all the stores I need are in a 4-mile and less radius). But I still need a car, the public transportation where I live is there, but because the distances are so great it takes way too long to go on normal errands. Downtown LA is at least an hour and a half away, taking the Orange Line (dedicated busway, which alone is a 50 minute ride to the farthest out subway) and the Red Line (subway) not counting waiting for connections and walking to the stations. When I lived next to downtown LA in Echo Park, I took public transportation a lot and enjoyed it, but still had a car parked in public lots and the street.

[@dawnviola3258]

I studied planning at ASU in 04-08. It’s the only landlocked suburb, surrounded by other municipalities on all sides. Every other city in the valley can sprawl except Tempe

[@Arcazjin]

All cities in PHX metro are starting to lock up now and they all still have big plots of land undeveloped. Gilbert, Paradise Valley, Chandler, and Glendale are now locked by an adjacent city and or a Native reservation. The problem is that the incentives is to sprawl more into the suburbs of suburbs than to fill in the gaps. On the flip housing would become less affordable with less cheep building options. Do not get me started on PHX metro's nimby problem.

[@dawnviola3258]

@@Arcazjin ohhhhh I grew up around Taliesin West. I remember the sprawl. Trying to ride my bike to the video store took an hour each way in the sun. I'm really happy to see what's happened since I've left. I moved over a decade ago, but still go back for the holidays. It's still a mess, but I get hope from friends I know pushing for a brighter future.

[@Arcazjin]

@@dawnviola3258 I love the area but I have the desert clay running in my veins so I am bias. The city still needs to adapt for the heat. We have plenty of water a common misconception. We just do not CA stealing it from us just because they are hosed.

[@phxpaul]

Chandler is now locked. The only option is infill

[@phxpaul]

@@dawnviola3258 Teliesin West? Boon docks 😁

[@philjustphil6444]

Tempe has always been ahead of the curve. The closer to ASU the better. Question: Why doesn't Phoenix homes have basements? It's up to 60 degrees cooler in the lower basement.

[@n8pls543]

Probably because it is a significantly cheaper construction method to not build a deep foundation. You see shallow foundations employed pretty much anywhere that the constructors could get away with it (and sometimes places where they can't). It's surprisingly common to see pad-on-grade foundations in my part of New England, and we have expansive clay, which... kind of destroys foundations like that.

[@stevengordon3271]

I built on a hill side, partly to justify having a bottom floor under half the ground.

[@slartibartfast1268]

Because the "soil" is often hard as concrete. But yeah, it would make sense in the long run.

[@Zalis116]

Maybe just a minor factor, but no tornadoes = no need for basement shelter?

[@Vidasinvida]

THATS WHAT IM WONDERING! I don’t get it… 😭

[@josephcarreon2341]

I understand building car-lite to car-free neighborhoods. I really do. But do they have to be apartments only? Like would it kill them to make some of the living space condominiums or townhouses to own? This type of lifestyle doesn't have to be just for rent. I feel like that will be it's downfall more than anything.

[@carrob704]

i agree, I would definitely consider owning a unit...without ownership, it will just be another transient apartment building. Perhaps that is what they want though.

[@gus473]

2:29 Love the old Circle K still standing proud on the landscape! Stop for a Slurpee? 😂✌️😎

[@thomasmooreCQ]

When I heard about culdesac, i found it fascinating. I hope more cities will try something like it. The two minuses for me about culdesac specifically is the desert heat and it's rental only (when i last looked). If they have a section where you can own an apartment, i may look more seriously at it. Especially if more small businesses move in. The light rail does look good too.

[@blores95]

I feel like this is a problem in general for US urbanism: buying vs renting. Should be a lot easier to own where you live in cities with a variety of options like townhouses, condos, quadplex, etc. Usually all we have are SFHs that are basically out of place and absurdly expensive or luxury condos with a bunch of amenities you might not use.

[@haweater1555]

Citynerd: The classic "Revenge of the Nerds" movie was filmed at University of Arizona (Tucson).

[@ericwright8592]

12:36 more like, "is America ready to revive this lifestyle from the past" seeing as all cities were car free before about 1920. Framing it this way hopefully makes it sound less scary to people who are skeptical of urbanism and the dreaded 15 minute city.

[@npgibson69]

Make America Great Again?

[@ethakis]

Adding more shade to the streets of Tempe and Phoenix seem like an excellent idea.

[@MRFISHPIG27]

I really think Tempe is missing out by not providing shaded bike parking, doesn't have to be anything crazy but adding as much shade as possible helps

[@bjf10]

Diagonal signals are awesome! They are one of the many great things I noticed about city planning in Japan.

[@tay-lore]

Cul-de-sac is objectively the silliest name for a car-free living area.

[@CityNerd]

I actually kinda like it -- it's got irony in it for sure, and while the literal meaning is "bottom of a sack" (the shape a literal cul-de-sac makes), it's really an emphasis on the fact that the road ends there -- there's no traffic on site.

[@tay-lore]

@CityNerd I was just considering their sole use case throughout American suburbia. With the literal translation though, I bet the folks over at T.B.A.G. really enjoy the name!

[@pierrerequillart4929]

@@CityNerd This is not the literal meaning. (cul=arse)

[@cryme5]

​@@pierrerequillart4929Cul means the end in this case, like "le cul d’une bouteille".

[@nicolerodriguez993]

Agree, my exposure to the term isn't its literal meaning but it as a favored element in quick build out cookie cutter suburbs. Oh wait, to some degree, that's Culdesac.

[@emma70707]

Culdesac looks so much less creepy now that they have plants in (and your footage is from an appropriate human scale height rather than a tall drone!). Glad to see it coming into it's own. I wouldn't move to AZ but I hope it's successful and gets replicated elsewhere.

[@-OAK-]

If you ever go to OKC, go to the wheeler district, it’s basically the same thing, but more colorful, and more vibrant. It’s still in the works though, it’s only on phase 3 out of 10

[@RROO-qy8je]

The worst way hot cities can be designed is to have large open space especially made out of concrete and having glass skyscrapers. All of those things contribute to making the city even hotter. Instead hot cities should focus on using as little concrete which basically means they should build less parking lots and less wider streets, using natural materials that naturally cool the building and adding as many shaded areas using trees, arcades and making the buildings slightly taller and closer to each other in order to add shade to the space between the buildings.

[@slartibartfast1268]

What long lasting materials do you suggest to make the buildings out of?

[@RROO-qy8je]

@@slartibartfast1268 Im not an expert on this but there are many materials that naturally cool a building. The best ones are brick, stone, sandstone, adobe, and so many more. The great thing about these materials is that they are most likely already found in hot places and are far easier to obtain than to import materials from far away. And you also mentioned long lasting. Pretty much every natural material is long lasting. Just look at all the historic buildings that have lasted for hundreds and even thousands of years that were built out of natural materials.

[@garcjr]

The proposed Amtrak line from Phoenix to Tucson shut down in 1997. So there's been studies to bring it back since then. Around every two years there's a series of news articles on a study to brink back the Amtrack to Phoenix. The State DOT already concluded some high-speed rail study back in 2015 and remains on the shelf only for the Feds to pick it off the shelf and enact another study every couple of years.

[@nickmonks9563]

"There's not enough demand" the NIMBYs keep saying...because that's what AZ NIMBYs do.

[@grahamturner2640]

Hopefully, if Ruben Gallego becomes Senator, he’ll actually do something more with it.

[@ChrisDoutre]

It looks like culdesac could use a lot more awnings and arcades. Those walls look almost incandescent.

[@franciswarnock8977]

I grew up in Radburn at the end of a culdesac, in a home built in the 1920s, facing a garden park. Completely walk-bike friendly. In terms of climate change and resource dearth, it'll still be livable long after places like Tempe, Phoenix etc aren't.

[@UnkillableMrStake]

My wife and I have been considering moving to cul-de-sac in the next few years. Right now with our jobs we're a little too car dependent but we'll definitely have to look into them further later on once work eases up and the new light rail extensions are finished

[@EPICROBOT1247]

I would love for you to do a video on Arcosanti here in Arizona, it’s a small walkable community near prescott

[@boston_octopus_442]

Thanks!

[@CityNerd]

No problem!

[@JarrenRocks]

I drove through to visit Culdesac while traveling for the solar eclipse. I really enjoyed it, and think the value will go up drastically the more there are (meaning there’s a network effect in walkability). One note: it’s only rental right now, though they’ve mentioned the are ‘considering’ ownership paths in the future.

[@djstraylight]

Mr Money Mustache spent a winter at Culdesac, escaping the Colorado winter. I went to school at ASU and a very walkable area. Love visiting when I got back to the Valley.

[@brucestiles6477]

One other aspect that must be considered in re: motorized vehicles is that the stores, restaurants, etc. have to have a steady stream of products/supplies coming in, and they are usually delivered by truck.

[@marcossaldana550]

Been waiting for this video for so long

[@Thedesertguy75]

Used to live there back in 2008-2009 era. Rent was still cheap then, mill Avenue had a heartbeat....it feels cold and indifferent nowadays with all those corporate dorm buildings....

[@tafifish]

Oh hey I'm literally on the lightrail, departing from sky harbor, on my way to culdesac to get coffee now! Coincidence? Can't wait to hear what you have to say right before I see it.

[@liveculdesac]

Love to hear it!

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

I would love to see this build on the giant parking lots and/or vacant lots next to train stations in so many midwestern cities, especially Chicago

[@liveculdesac]

We hope to inspire more infill, walkable development all across the U.S.! :)

[@MoonShine-o5n]

One thing that's missed about the orbit system is that they connect Tempe's most important light rail stops with Tempe's 3 or 4 Transit hubs. You have buses to different parts of "The Valley" as the locals call it.. so you can go to Scottsdale or Chandler or different parts of Phoenix from these hubs. You can totally live car free if you stay within Tempe and take cabs otherwise.

[@mattpotter8725]

As a Brit who lives in a walkable, fairly bike amenable town I'm a little confused by Culdesac. Can't you design a community that has a pedestrian core but still allows you to own a car for when you are wanting to go even a little out of town? This to me looks very limiting unless your whole life is along where the transit goes, or am I missing something? Surely it doesn't have to be one extreme or the other? I have so many questions that don't seem to be answered here. One problem I've seen in other videos, and remember I'm not from the US, is that if you have a store you have to have a huge amount of parking for that store, meaning you end up with strip malls with insane amount of parking space they don't really need, I'm guessing if these suburbs had stores like that they'd have to have this too (or are they able to basically able to build how they want to to a certain extent) and that is why they just don't have these? I'm also curious how people live in these places, how they get their groceries, where they work, things like that. It's left me with more questions than answers. Those outside bike racks/stands just look like a waste of money. Why not give them shade, put a canopy over them to protect them from the sun? A lot of this development looks designed to fail, almost as though to say we tried but failed (mainly due to doing things on the cheap to reduce costs).

[@slartibartfast1268]

Shrug. Ideals get eroded by practicalities. And remember, this is in an existing urban environment. It's expensive to tear down all the old infrastructure to build new. It's a start. Things can't change overnight. As far as why cities in the US are built the way they are, I'm sure this channel has covered the why's and wherefor's of that history pretty well. And yes, from a livable urban perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[@mattpotter8725]

@@slartibartfast1268 Thanks for this, I'd thought Culdesac was a brand new development and so was developed from scratch. The city which Culdesac is part of, Tempe, which I would still call a suburb of Phoenix rather than an independent city, although I know that's not how things work over there, I did think was older and more established and you are limited with what you can and can't do depending on the current situation, I understand that, but I'd just assumed Culdesac wasn't like this. I do agree though that it's a start, I just hope it succeeds, and gets modified to help it get there.

[@slartibartfast1268]

@@mattpotter8725 I hope I didn't come across as someone who is an expert about this area. I'm certainly not! I did live a mile or so from this neighborhood many years ago, but I don't remember exactly what was there. I'm pretty sure it wasn't virgin land, so something was there before, probably a strip mall of some kind or part of a residential neighborhood. Whatever that was had to be torn down and this new development put in. It would have to be designed within the constraints of zoning laws, current surrounding infrastructure, which developers were willing to finance it, attitudes of residents nearby etc. You did get me wanting to research it a little more, just out of curiosity.

[@saratemp790]

Yes they should start with some tastefully hidden parking. To attract people. Then eventually, if the place densifies, they won't need the parking as much anymore.

[@sethborman7844]

Sure, you can do that. Can you design it to be 3x the density of London, though? Because that is what they did here. The original plan for the site was tall apartment buildings with garages but the rents would have to be 25% higher to make that work.

[@davidruedemann971]

A lot of Phoenix’s newest wave of urbanism is just tossing housing density into car centric living. The 5x1’s with commercial on the first floor are relatively older, they tried and failed without pedestrian traffic pretty much. So the new apartments getting built are purely residential. Cul de sac is just outsourcing a lot of the driving to rideshares and delivery for wealthier people and students, drivers actually servicing the community likely are driving in from outside Tempe given the East Valley’s progress pushing working class people out of good areas.

[@ramonnape]

you should visit the denver suburb of aurora! the developments are insane

[@tomc7376]

I just returned to St. Louis after 8 years in Tempe, and I loved it there. I lived well south of that downtown area, but used my car so much less than I do now. Although that area was more car-centric than the one highlighted in this video, all the services were so much closer and there were tons of walking/biking paths, one about a block from home. The upside of the move though -- an equivalent home here costs HALF of what we had there.

[@humanecities]

Long awaited thoughts!

[@AryaStarkTheExplorer]

Were you able to go to downtown Tuscon? They are very walkable. Flagstaff and Sedona as well. Also, Scottsdale has a walkable in certain areas.

[@pstandlee]

I’d love to live without a car in US. I had no car in Japan for 9 years. It was tough but felt lifestyle was better overall. I did wish I had car to get out of city and explore more though.

[@hhectorlector]

I was about to write in your latest video asking you to go here. So cool that you already did!!

[@CrakenX]

It's interesting how the video mentioned that the ground floor retail in the new 5 over 1 buildings were mostly sitting vacant. I've noticed the same thing in all of the new mixed use developments around where I live in the Bay Area. It seems like it's a widespread phenomenon even outside of California. Any idea what's causing this?

[@jenapotts641]

You don't 'live' in these places just in March. My husband's shoe melted into a parking lot while talking too long on a hot day. He stepped right out of it. Stairs everywhere in Culdesac and it's 108' .Try climbing them with groceries. Only for the very young. VERY young.

[@tonerduckpin]

Tempe is nice. I lived there for a short time while attending ASU. The living wage there is $35 an hour. Not affordable for most people except college students living in dorms. It is a lot like Flagstaff, nice but not affordable except for college students.

[@TrainableEwe0]

Crazy seeing you come out to my neck of the woods and film so many of the streets I’ve lived and biked on. I lived just up the street from Culdesac until recently and biked up and down Apache Boulevard just about every day for two years. Can confirm that the biking experience could be improved and Cocina Chiwas is very tasty!

[@nathanwatson1915]

In early 2024 June on a recent trip I assembled my bike at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and rode to my mom's house in southern Tempe, stopping to eat at my younger brother's place on the way. I rode around Tempe and Mesa to family functions and outings for the next two weeks, daytime and nighttime. I really am impressed with what Tempe has done since I left 30 years ago. There's a lot of biking infrastructure, and the canal paths are really nice, especially at night. It was a dry 100° to 110° when riding mid-day, weird thing is you don't accumulate sweat until you stop riding, it evaporates right away, so the ride isn't as bad as it might seem due to the built in A/C. I did have a chance to go out to South Mountain, a huge mountainous urban park, for trail riding ... and that was hard in that heat. I caught pneumonia or valley-fever (fungal lung infection) during that trip, it took me three weeks to recover. Fortunately the worst symptoms showed up after getting back home, though I did leave Phoenix with a dryish deep cough. Don't skip out on eating at The Chuckbox near ASU if ever you're in the area.

[@RobertKirkpatrick84]

The Phoenix light rail is pretty awful, I am regularly harassed by homeless if it's anything other than peak commuter hours. I think it's not fair to mention the rent at cul de sac, it's 1,500 for a studio and goes up to over 3,000. And if you don't work along any public transport you will need to find a place to store your car or pay some really hefty Uber/Lyft/waymo fees.

[@Unmannedperson]

1:14: Other suburbs that do better in walk/transit/bike score: Sacramento: 49/34/67 vs. Davis: 50/38/90 San Jose: 51/40/62 vs. Sunnyvale: 60/40/78 or Mountain View: 66/41/92 Los Angeles: 69/53/59 vs. Santa Monica: 83/60/88 San Diego: 53/37/43 vs. National City: 69/47/49

[@kathyw4811]

Yeah, but.... all the "cities" you mention in the list are mostly suburban anyhow. Hence the comparison between the core "cities" and their putative "suburbs" appears atypical.

[@victorconway444]

I LOVE this place and I’m so glad they built it in my city. Only thing stopping me from moving there is it’s out of my price range. Hopefully that’ll change in the future when they’ve built up more.

[@liveculdesac]

Thank you for your support!

[@pongop]

I'm excited for that CityNerd - City Beautiful collab!

[@Alicia-ag]

It is such a beautiful neighbourhood, I love that it feels like a garden o like a natural park rest area

[@davidn2612]

I wish my town had even just one pedestrian priority street, like the fact that this species is completely extinct is so sad to me

[@williamxie3085]

@5:59 that bus is so cute!

[@Modus_Pwnin]

What a dream. If only it was so popular every state did this

[@liveculdesac]

We hope to inspire more walkable development all across the U.S.!

[@ShadowChief117]

I wish Tempe station would reopen with a rail to Flagstaff. My fiancée and I wanted to save money traveling to Kansas to visit her family a couple years ago and we had to drive a few hours up to Flag extremely late at night, pay for a week of parking, and ride the rail from there for 2 days. Would be way nicer to have my family just give us a ride to the Tempe station and ride the rail a little longer to connect in Flag, but we have zero options for that.

[@stevengordon3271]

Having mass transit to Maricopa would be another alternative.

[@Vidasinvida]

That would be so cool! Hopefully someday that can happen! I swear everyone goes to flagstaff during the summers 😂 so that would be useful to have! Less congested traffic yay

[@SueIsRetiringToFrance]

Love it! I lived in CenPho 2 blks west of the light rail, and I would walk/bike/or light rail it everywhere. Including bike to work; one job was 12 miles away, the other 6. Both had non-primary road bike routes. Heaven. I miss those days. Moving to France next year - probably in a small town on the bus/rail lines and walkable/bikeable for daily whatever. Love your channel!

[@jfmezei]

If the first thing that happens after graduation is parents buying son/daughter their first F150 or Dodge RAM, then having lived in car-free campus will have had zero effect and those kids instantly become truck dependent. Kinds think of University as an all inclusive resort where you live near your classes inside the resort and none of it applies in real life where you might live far away from where you can first your first job. Would be interesting to compare average commute distance for students in university vs graduated workers.