Wednesday, January 7, 2015

TED Talk: Jeff Speck, Walkable Cities



Highlights
  • Invest in walkability: Portland as a great example
    • Has fundamentally changed how Portlanders live
    • Portlanders drive 20% less than the average American, they are saving 3% of their GDP, and are able to spend that on recreation
    • Educated, young people are moving there in droves; it's a place people want to be because it offers a quality of life that people want
  • 2004: Urban Sprawl and Public Health
    • The suburbs are killing us and the cities can save us
    • Obesity, diabetes, etc.
    • Urban/Suburban lifestyle relates to diet, but it seems to correlate even more with inactivity
  • The American health care crisis is really an urban design crisis, with walkability at the heart of the cure
  • The correlation between sustainability of communities and quality of life
    • Does "being sustainable" make our quality of life better? No. The things that make us sustainable make our lives better. That thing is living in a walkable community
  • How to get people to walk? Requirements:
    • A reason to walk (balance of uses)
    • A safe walk (reality and perception)
    • A comfortable walk (space and orientation)
    • An interesting walk (signs of humanity)

More from Jeff Speck

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