Welcome to Culdesac, America's Car-Free neighborhood

[DGUtley]

Welcome to Culdesac, America's Car-Free neighborhood. A new housing development outside Phoenix is looking towards European cities for inspiration and shutting out the cars. So far residents love it.


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If you were to imagine the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the modern US, it would be difficult to conceive such a thing sprouting from the environs of Phoenix, Arizona – a sprawling, concrete incursion into a brutal desert environment that is sometimes derided as the least sustainable city in the country.

But it is here that such a neighborhood, called Culdesac, has taken root. On a 17-acre site that once contained a car body shop and some largely derelict buildings, an unusual experiment has emerged that invites Americans to live in a way that is rare outside of fleeting experiences of college, Disneyland or trips to Europe: a walkable, human-scale community devoid of cars.

Culdesac ushered in its first 36 residents earlier this year and will eventually house around 1,000 people when the full 760 units, arranged in two and three-story buildings, are completed by 2025. In an almost startling departure from the US norm, residents are provided no parking for cars and are encouraged to get rid of them. The apartments are also mixed in with amenities, such as a grocery store, restaurant, yoga studio and bicycle shop, that are usually separated from housing by strict city zoning laws.


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[NoisyBoy]

The mini version of a modern city state. I could see that taking hold.

[DGUtley]

The mini version of a modern city state. I could see that taking hold.

I could as well.

[jes'fuchinwitcha]

The big downside is that it will hurt the economy because of reduced sales of fossil fuel. Bad for the GDP.

[Abby08]

I'm thinking.....no.....seems more like a commune, to me. .....kinda cult-like.

[jes'fuchinwitcha]

I'm thinking.....no.....seems more like a commune, to me. .....kinda cult-like.

Old School European cult(ure)-like?

Automobiles are alien beings that invaded Earth and took over the minds of humans and turned us into slaves...

[countryboy]

Old School European cult(ure)-like?

Automobiles are alien beings that invaded Earth and took over the minds of humans and turned us into slaves...

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[Peter1469]

I could see a similar prepper style community. With a wall and guard towers. And bunkers. :-)

[Abby08]

Old School European cult(ure)-like?

Automobiles are alien beings that invaded Earth and took over the minds of humans and turned us into slaves...

Like the kind that wear white robes, grow their own vegetables and, don't like outsiders.

[countryboy]

I could see a similar prepper style community. With a wall and guard towers. And bunkers. :-)

With not only cars, but a pickup in every driveway, and an auto pool overflowing with military surplus vehicles. Oh how that would trigger the libs. And an armory, with fully automatic weapons, and millions of rounds of ammo, lol.