26 December 2024

CAR-FREE LIVING in Tempe

When tenants at Culdesac need a car for an occasional errand, they can rent an on-site EV for $5 an hour; they also get discounts on Lyft and Waymo and a free all-access light rail pass.

This Arizona neighborhood doesn’t let you own a car. Here’s what it’s like to live there

[Photo: courtesy Culdesac]BY Adele Peters

4 minute read

When John-Robert Rodriguez moved into a new apartment in a Phoenix suburb, he had to sign a contract saying that he wouldn’t own a car.

The development, called Culdesac, bills itself as the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the U.S. Rodriguez, like the other 150-plus residents who have moved in since the first units were completed last year, was happy not to drive.

“I was motivated to look for options where I didn’t have to have a car,” he says. He grew up in suburban South Florida and later lived in suburban Texas, where going anywhere usually meant a half-hour drive. Now he can walk downstairs to an on-site grocery store or a neighboring light rail stop that leads to downtown Phoenix, his teaching job, or the airport.

When tenants at Culdesac need a car for an occasional errand, they can rent an on-site EV for $5 an hour; they also get discounts on Lyft and Waymo and a free all-access light rail pass. A new separated bike lane will soon connect the development to a nearby outdoor mall and a larger bike network; the first 200 residents get a free e-bike when they sign a lease and discounts at the local bike shop.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adele Peters is a senior writer at Fast Company who focuses on solutions to climate change and other global challenges, interviewing leaders from Al Gore and Bill Gates to emerging climate tech entrepreneurs like Mary Yap.. She contributed to the bestselling book Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century and a new book from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies called State of Housing Design 2023 More

 

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