A new community in Arizona is being built that’s being called the first no-driving community built from the ground up in the country. As Bloomberg reports when the community, called Culdesac Tempe, opens next year, residents will be “ contractually forbidden from parking a vehicle within a quarter-mile radius of the site.”
How will people get around? That industry buzzword that everyone loves so much: mobility services. A bundle of them will be included in the monthly rent.
The $170 million residential development will feature a plaza with scooter docks, car-share parking, and ride-hail pickup zones, with a light rail station across the street. When the first units open in July 2022, residents are set to receive complimentary access to a Lyft Pink subscription, preferred pricing for a fleet of Bird scooters, an Envoy car share membership, and free unlimited passes on the Valley Metro transit system.
You can pretty much read between the lines and see that this is a Millenial targeted hipster community. General Manager of Culdesac Tempe Lavanya Sunder says that residents that have been moving in don’t drive, don’t have cars, nor are they interested in driving.
We’re finding that most people moving in are not planning to keep their cars. They don’t have a car now or are planning on selling it, partly because we will have this multitude of mobility options onsite.
While the community may seem a dream for those who want more walkable, car-free communities, it’s not without its skeptics. Some praise it for being “ a model for retrofitting suburban sprawl for a post-car era.” Others worry that with no access to cars, many won’t be able to commute to the Phoenix area if the need arose. Others are worrying about its mobility options amid a drop in ridership on transit offerings because of the pandemic.
It’s not stopping people from being interested in the community, though. If you want to get in on it, act quick. Studios start at $1,090 while one-bedrooms go for $1,250. Per Bloomberg:
…people seem to want what Culdesac is selling. With 260 units slated to open between summer 2022 and spring 2023, 33 leases have been signed and about 300 people have put down $100 to remain on the waiting list, Sunder said. Recent expansions by employers such as Peloton, DoorDash, and ZipRecuiter within Tempe seem to be driving some of the demand, as well as the pandemic’s rise in remote work.
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