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Top 30 Metro Areas When It Comes To Walkable Urban Places (WalkUps)


citykid09

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Walkable real estate development projects and places are on the rise nationwide, but certain metro regions are progressing faster than others, according to Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros. The report ranks the country’s top 30 metropolitan areas based on the amount of commercial development in Walkable Urban Places (WalkUPs) and is written by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University School of Business in conjunction with LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors. Watch an archive of the live release event below.

The study finds higher education levels and one-third higher GDP per capita in high-ranking cities. Additionally, a series of forward-looking metrics examine the future development patterns in these metro areas to predict how walkable or how sprawling their future development is likely to be. Major findings include:

  • The top ranking metros have an average of 38% higher GDP per capita as compared to the low ranking metros.
  • Office rent in urban WalkUPs rent at a 74% higher premium per square foot over drivable sub-urban areas.
  • Projections for which metros will contain the most walkable places in the future.

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/locus/foot-traffic-ahead/#

www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/foot-traffic-ahead.pdf

There is also a Viemo video but I did not know how to attach it.

 

This is some very interesting information. I have mentioned in a previous thread that their seems to be a direct correlation between a cities GDP and a cities infrastructure. I was not only talking about streets and transit rail, but also urban walkable development. I have always said that high GDP, high income, and highly educated cities seem to be more walkable and forward thinking except when it came to Houston and this bit of information seems to confirm what I have always said. Houston may have a high average income, but being the oil capital that it is it will not budge on its suburban unwalkable car orientated development. I can say that Houston is trying, but its developers really need a helping hand and someone to tell them that they are doing it all wrong (BLVD Place, River Oaks District).  For the past year or two I have not really paid any attention to other cities because of all of the development going on in Houston. I was sure that Houston had the most going on out of all of the cities and I was sure that places like the River Oaks District were only happening in Houston, but boy was I wrong. These types of developments have been going up in other peer cities at 10Xs the rate of Houston with real neighborhood interaction and not surrounded by islands of parking.

 

One thing that surprised me was just how walkable Atlanta is and will become. Atlanta has for the most part halted all vehicle oriented development.

 

 

Houston ranked 15th out of the 30 metros and is expected to improve to 13th in WalkUps in the future.

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Walkable real estate development projects and places are on the rise nationwide, but certain metro regions are progressing faster than others, according to Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros. The report ranks the country’s top 30 metropolitan areas based on the amount of commercial development in Walkable Urban Places (WalkUPs) and is written by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University School of Business in conjunction with LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors. Watch an archive of the live release event below.

The study finds higher education levels and one-third higher GDP per capita in high-ranking cities. Additionally, a series of forward-looking metrics examine the future development patterns in these metro areas to predict how walkable or how sprawling their future development is likely to be. Major findings include:

  • The top ranking metros have an average of 38% higher GDP per capita as compared to the low ranking metros.
  • Office rent in urban WalkUPs rent at a 74% higher premium per square foot over drivable sub-urban areas.
  • Projections for which metros will contain the most walkable places in the future.
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/locus/foot-traffic-ahead/#

www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/foot-traffic-ahead.pdf

There is also a Viemo video but I did not know how to attach it.

 

This is some very interesting information. I have mentioned in a previous thread that their seems to be a direct correlation between a cities GDP and a cities infrastructure. I was not only talking about streets and transit rail, but also urban walkable development. I have always said that high GDP, high income, and highly educated cities seem to be more walkable and forward thinking except when it came to Houston and this bit of information seems to confirm what I have always said. Houston may have a high average income, but being the oil capital that it is it will not budge on its suburban unwalkable car orientated development. I can say that Houston is trying, but its developers really need a helping hand and someone to tell them that they are doing it all wrong (BLVD Place, River Oaks District).  For the past year or two I have not really paid any attention to other cities because of all of the development going on in Houston. I was sure that Houston had the most going on out of all of the cities and I was sure that places like the River Oaks District were only happening in Houston, but boy was I wrong. These types of developments have been going up in other peer cities at 10Xs the rate of Houston with real neighborhood interaction and not surrounded by islands of parking.

 

One thing that surprised me was just how walkable Atlanta is and will become. Atlanta has for the most part halted all vehicle oriented development.

 

 

Houston ranked 15th out of the 30 metros and is expected to improve to 13th in WalkUps in the future.

I'm glad that Houston's not out halting development because developers are being told "that they are doing it all wrong".

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