Urban Walkability Gains a Foothold in the U.S.

Urban Walkability Gains a Foothold in the U.S.
The 15-Minute City, an urban concept in which all basic needs can be satisfied with a 15-minute walk or bike ride, is catching on in the U.S. as an indirect reaction to the pandemic.

BY ANDY HIRSCHFELD
9 MIN READ MAY 5, 2021




(YES! Magazine) Jake Poznak, co-owner of Moonrise Izakaya, a Japanese restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, could have easily been a statistic of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the National Restaurant Association, more than 100,000 restaurateurs across the country had to close their businesses because of the pandemic. After the first wave, when restaurants began to reopen, the city helped restaurants build outdoor dining enclosures that take up spots on the street otherwise reserved for parked cars. Expanded outdoor dining in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic was a lifeline for Poznak, the business, and the vibrancy of the neighborhood.

“Without outdoor dining, we would be out of business,” Poznak says. “I was shocked that all winter, people were willing to get on the sidewalk. I have one of these street enclosures.”

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New York is the standout example for a more pandemic-induced move in this direction in the United States—following in the footsteps of Paris, where the idea of the 15-Minute City first caught on.

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Known for its almost nonexistent zoning, Houston is a city where the idea of a 15-Minute City is more of an uphill battle, but it’s far from off the table. The layout of Houston is actually fairly conducive to this. While the city is sprawling, it has multiple urban centers, unlike most other cities. Downtown Houston, the Texas Medical Center, Uptown Houston, Greenway Plaza, and Westchase all act as concentrated urban cores with sprawling neighborhoods intertwined between them. ..............(more)

https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2021/05/05/15-minute-city-walk