We Need More Car-Optional Neighborhoods. Here's How to Get Started.

Last week I shared some ideas Victor Dover initially presented for Pensacola’s CiviCon series on why communities struggle to provide affordable housing and how to start fixing that issue. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, or if you want to refresh your memory, click here.  Also, if you’d like to watch his initial presentation, click here.

Victor talks a lot about the fact that affordable housing is intertwined with transportation. Not only do people need to be able to pay their rent or mortgage, they need to be able to get to work (and other places) without long, expensive commutes.

One solution is to create what Victor calls “car optional neighborhoods.” In his presentation he talked about a city that has recently undergone a transformation. He said it changed from being a “car place” where pedestrians are grudgingly tolerated to a “pedestrian place” where cars are allowed to visit! And then he laid out a plan for other cities to follow.

Car optional neighborhoods solve many problems. Often at least one person in each household works for a company located nearby and can walk or bike to work, so everyone won’t need their own car. (Victor talks about getting big employers like hospitals and universities into the housing game. Providing employees with housing that lets them have a good quality of life, especially when wages haven’t kept pace with the cost of living, helps attract and retain talent.)

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