Last year, when Andre Rouhani and Gabriela Reyes did a Culdesac Tempe tour, a rental development outside of Phoenix, the place looked pretty soft. There were winning paths, shops and low -white stucco buildings grouped around shaded courses.
The only surprise came when Mr. Rouhani, 33, a doctoral student at the Arizona State University, asked questions about residents’ parking and he was told that there was none.
The couple had two dogs, a young child and another baby on the way. “In short, we decided that all the advantages prevail over the disadvantages,” said Rouhani in a recent telephone interview. The family gave their car to Ms. Reyes’ father and moved to Culdesac in December. “We really love it here,” said Rouhani. “This is the best place I have ever experienced.”
50 states, 50 corrections is a series on local solutions to environmental problems. More to come this year.
Modeled on cities in Italy and Greece built long before the advent of cars, Culdesac Tempe is what its developers call the first district of the country built on purpose to be without a car.
Ryan Johnson, the director general of Culdesac, said that he wanted to offer a plan to live in a place accessible on foot, even in a state centered on the car and often toasted.
“This is one of the best things we can do for the climate, health, happiness, the low cost of living, even the low cost of the government,” said Johnson, who also lives in Culdesac. “It is also a better style of life. We become all the worst versions of ourselves behind the wheel. ”
Although there is a short -term parking lot for deliveries, retailers and guests, Culdesac residents should move through the nearby tramway system, as well as on buses, scooters, electric bikes and using driving shares. There are 22 retail stores, several of them live workspaces and a small Korean market. Until now, 288 apartments have been built over eight of the 17 acres on the site with 450 other planned units.
There are other car-free places in the United States, mainly getaway where people walk, by bike or a tool in golf carts. But zoning requirements in most cities generally require new developments to provide residents with a minimum number of parking spaces, including in the Phoenix region, a paragon of urban sprawl. The developers of Culdesac Temple have received a special exemption from parking requirements by the city of Temple.
“It is completely different from our modern and conventional approach to development,” said Edward Erfurt, Chief Technical Advisor to Strong Towns, a non-profit North American group that promotes community resilience. “We have just had this experience in the last eight decades where we have chosen to prioritize an isolated transport system compared to our natural way of working together as human beings.”
Culdesac Tempe broke this mold, said Erfurt, adding: “It’s a big problem.”
The buildings of two and three stages of Culdesac are designed for the climate of the desert, painted in shiny white to reflect the heat. Not having to take into account residential parking has enabled its architects to configure buildings to maximize the shadow and to design narrow paths that encouraged breeze and social commitment.
“The pedestrian is really the main person, the figure for which you develop,” said Alexandra Vondeling, the main architect of the project. Large stretches of glass have been avoided, awning added on the sun -oriented windows and native plants and trees put to cool the shadow. There is a large gateway which can accommodate emergency vehicles, but no asphalt, reducing the effect of the urban heat island and improving the conditions of the dogs that also live there.
The apartments range from studios to three -room units, renting between $ 1,300 and $ 2,800 per month, which, according to Johnson, was market rates. Almost 90% are rented.
Some residents were attracted to Culdesac because of its mission without a car, others despite this. There is a contingent, an unknown size, which quietly has cars, just parked out of site.
Sheryl Murdock, 50, a postdoctoral researcher who lives in Canada, rents a unit because she is often in Temple for work and wanted to balance carbon emissions from all this flight.
Ashley Weiland and her husband moved in with their young child to abandon the costs of having a car and ended up finding a job in Culdesac, she and he in maintenance.
Electra Hug, 24, who works for the city of Tempe and is blind, wanted to be close to public transport and have a feeling of community. It is the first time that she has lived without the help of family and friends. “To have a good time or have fun, I don’t have to cross the street,” said Ms. Hug. “It’s just super unique and really intimate.”
Mr. Rouhani and Mrs. Reyes use her father’s car once a week for the races. Otherwise, they mainly drive public transport with free passes provided by Culdesac.
Living in a place where people do not move in their cars means that the pace is slower, with more connection possibilities, said Rouhani. This is the kind of community, he said, where neighbors borrow a cup of sugar in each other. In the days following the birth of their daughter, three different families brought a meal, deposited cookies or offered to go and buy them shopping. “We feel really supported and liked it here,” he said.
David King, who teaches town planning at Arizona State University, said that Culdesac Temple could encourage other developers to put pressure on exemptions from parking requirements. And Mr. Erfurt de Strong Towns said that Culdesac Tempe could open the way, so to speak, so that similar car developments are built in places like closed shopping centers, which could approach the affordable housing crisis, reduce loneliness and bring people closer to their work.
“We could do all of this just by decoupling development parking,” said Erfurt. “On each market, people are looking for this.”
