Walkable neighborhoods are on the rise. In a country run by cars, many millennials and Gen Zers are willing to spend more to live in a community where it's easy to get around without a vehicle, according to a 2023 study by the National Association of Realtors.
Enter Culdesac — the budding Arizona block making a name for itself as the "first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US."
Located in Tempe, home of Arizona State University, Culdesac is a community where cars are banned. It's been a project in the making since 2018. Last year, the neighborhood opened to residents. Now, 200 people live on the 17-acre block, a company representative told Business Insider. Eventually, Culdesac plans to house 1,000 residents.
As a New Yorker without a car, Culdesac intrigued me. So, on a recent trip to Arizona, I visited the car-free neighborhood and thought it felt like an urban oasis in the Phoenix suburb.