More good news about walkable neighborhoods September 10
Our latest column in Mainebiz, which follows up on this blog post about walkable neighborhoods having higher real-estate values, was published yesterday and is already generating a bit of buzz - thanks for reading!
The topic has also recently been discussed on the environmental blog Grist, where former GrowSmart Maine board member Stacy Mitchell wrote an essay last month about the environmental benefits of walkable neighborhood shops. In addition to the benefits of increased property values, there are also substantial environmental benefits:
“So far, the public debate about cars and climate change has been dominated by fuel economy. But driving has been growing at such a rapid pace—total miles driven in the U.S. rose 60 percent between 1987 and 2007—that even a big advance in fuel economy is likely to be wiped out by ever more miles on the road…
This is where local stores come in. Academics who study travel behavior say that the presence of neighborhood businesses is a major factor in how much we drive. Dozens of studies have found that people who live near small stores walk more for errands and, when they do drive, their trips are shorter.