The place looked rather sweet when Andre Rouhani and Gabriela Reyes toured Culdesac Tempe, a rental development outside of Phoenix. There were thin corridors, boutique shops and low white stucco buildings gathered around a shady courtyard.
The only surprise comes when 33-year-old Louhani, a doctoral student at Arizona State University, asked about the resident’s parking and was told there was nothing.
The couple had one infant and another baby with two dogs. “Simply put, all the pros have decided to outweigh their weaknesses,” Luhani said in a recent phone interview. The family handed the car to Reyes’ father and moved to Caldesac in December. “We really love it here,” Luhani said. “This is the best place I’ve ever lived.”
50 states, 50 fixes are a series on local solutions to environmental issues. I’ll come more this year.
Built long before the advent of cars, modeled after Italian and Greek towns, the Culdesac Tempe is what its developers call the country’s first neighbourhood, intentionally built to have no cars.
Culdesac CEO Ryan Johnson said he wanted to provide a blueprint for living in a comfortable place, even when often burned in the heart of a car.
“This is one of the best things you can do with climate, health, happiness, cost of living, even the low cost of government,” said Johnson, who lives in Culdesac. “It’s also a better lifestyle. We all become the worst version of ourselves behind the wheel.”
There is short-term parking for delivery, retailers and guests, but Culdesac residents will circulate with nearby light rail systems, buses, scooters, electric bikes and ride-share use. There are 22 retail stores, some of which have live workspaces and small Korean markets. So far, 288 apartments have been built on eight of the 17 acres of the site’s 17 acres, with an additional 450 units being planned.
There are places in the US that do not have other cars. Mostly it’s an island holiday where people walk in golf carts, ride bikes, and walk equipment. However, zoning requirements in most cities require new developments to provide residents with a minimum number of parking spaces, including the Phoenix area, a paragon of urban sprawls. The developers of Culdesac Tempe were given a special exemption from the city of Tempe’s parking requirements.
“This is completely different from our modern, traditional approach to development,” says Edward Elfurt, chief technical advisor at Strongtowns, a North American nonprofit that promotes community resilience. “We have just conducted this experiment over the last 80 years and have chosen to prioritize isolated transport systems and the natural way we work together as humans.”
Caldesac Tempe broke the mold, Elfurt said, adding, “It’s a huge deal.”
The two- and three-storey buildings at Culdesac are designed for desert climates and paint bright whites to reflect the heat. Without taking into consideration residential parking, the architects were able to configure the building to maximize shade and design narrow paths that promote breeze and social engagement.
“Pedestrians are really the main person and the person you’re developing,” said Alexandra Bondering, the project’s lead architect. Large glass spread was avoided, and awnings were added over sun-facing windows, and native plants and trees were placed for cold tints. There are wide passageways that can accommodate emergency vehicles, but no asphalt, reducing the effectiveness of the city’s heat islands and improving the conditions for the dogs living there.
The apartments range from studios to three bedroom units and are available for rent between $1,300 and $2,800 a month. Almost 90% is leased.
Some residents were drawn to Kurdesak for their carless mission, while others were nevertheless attracted to them. It was accidental, size unknown, I owned the car quietly and just parked off the property.
Sheryl Murdoch, 50, a postdoctoral researcher living in Canada, rents a unit because she wants to balance her carbon footprint as she is often in Tempe for work.
Ashley Wyland and her husband gave up on the cost of having a car with their young children and ended up getting a job at Kurdesak.
Elektrahag, 24, who works in Tempe and is blind, wanted to get closer to public transport and have a sense of community. This is the first time she has lived without the help of family or friends. “You don’t have to cross the street to have fun or have fun,” Hug said. “It’s very unique and really homely.”
Rouhani and Reyes rent their father’s car once a week for business. Otherwise, they mainly ride public transport with free passes provided by Culdesac.
Living in places where people are not driving from places they are not zipping in their cars means slower pace and more opportunities for connection, Rouhani said. It’s a kind of community, he said, neighbors borrow a glass of sugar from each other. Over the days after my daughter was born, three different families offered to bring meals, drop cookies and go buy some groceries. “We feel really supported and loved here,” he said.
David King, a city planning teacher at Arizona State University, said Culdesac Tempe could encourage other developers to promote exemptions from parking requirements. And Elfurt, a strong town, said Kurdesak Tempe could open the way for similar car-free developments to be built in places like shuttered strip malls that could deal with the affordable housing crisis, reduce loneliness and bring people closer to where they work.
“We could just separate the parking lot from development and do all that,” Erfurt said. “In every market, people are looking for it.”
