If there’s one thing urban planners, environmental advocates, and everyday citizens can increasingly agree on, it’s this: our cities weren’t built with people in mind. For over a century, we’ve shaped our neighborhoods and infrastructure to accommodate cars, not humans. The cost? A staggering decline in livability, affordability, public health, and environmental sustainability.
But the tides are turning—and you can be part of the change.
A Shift in Perspective Starts with You
If reading about car-free neighborhoods like Culdesac Tempe has sparked even a small shift in your thinking, congratulations. You’ve already made a difference. Change doesn’t begin with massive policies or billion-dollar investments. It starts with ideas—and with individuals like you reconsidering how we move, where we live, and what kind of communities we want to build.
Simply questioning the car-centric status quo is powerful. When enough people choose more walkable housing, embrace bikes or public transit, and advocate for better planning, we start to reshape the demand that drives urban development. And that shift has long-term effects on how cities evolve.
How to Support the Movement—Wherever You Live
Feeling inspired to do more than just nod in agreement? Great. There are tangible actions you can take to help spread this model and bring it to your own community.
1. Advocate for Smarter Local Policy
You don’t need to be an urban planner to influence how your city grows. Local governments make decisions every day about where and how to build. Showing up to city council meetings, emailing your representatives, or joining planning commissions can give you a real voice.
What should you advocate for?
- More housing density—encourage developments that bring people closer to where they work, shop, and socialize.
- Expanded bike infrastructure—protected lanes, secure bike parking, and priority intersections.
- Elimination of parking minimums—stop forcing developers to pave over potential green space just to meet outdated car-centric codes.
- Halt road expansions—because every dollar spent making more room for cars is a dollar lost from creating walkable, livable neighborhoods.
These changes may seem small, but collectively they reshape the economic and cultural DNA of cities.
2. Support Car-Free Projects Like Culdesac
Interested in living in a neighborhood built for people, not cars? Join the waiting list at Culdesac Tempe. Demand speaks volumes, and every household that opts into a place like this reinforces that there’s a better way to build.
While spots are limited now, the list moves quickly—especially if your move-in dates are flexible. And as more neighborhoods follow Culdesac’s model, the movement will only grow stronger.
3. Encourage Investment in Better Development
If you’re a major landowner or investor, your role in shaping the future is even more influential. The Culdesac team is actively looking to expand this model to other cities. If you have significant urban acreage (20+ central acres in a high-density metro) or financial capital to invest ($10M+), you could help launch the next car-free community—and redefine urban life in the process.
This isn’t just feel-good investing. It’s the future of real estate development: more profitable, more sustainable, and more in demand.
The Payoff: A Future That Works Better for Everyone
It’s easy to think of these shifts as sacrifices—giving up convenience, speed, or personal freedom. But in truth, the payoff is massive.
Imagine discovering that your chronically sick friend wasn’t cursed by fate, but simply eating nothing but sugar and soda their whole life. A few changes in lifestyle, and suddenly they’re healthier, more energized, and thriving.
That’s what car-free city planning does for our urban society.
When we stop spending billions expanding highways, we can redirect that money into parks, schools, affordable housing, and public services. When we cut back on car dependency, we reduce air pollution, noise, and stress—while improving public health and saving families thousands of dollars a year.
In short, every car trip we avoid, every walkable neighborhood we build, and every mile of bike lane we lay down explodes our collective wealth, happiness, and resilience for generations.
The win-win benefits are so obvious, the only real question left is: what are we waiting for?
Are You In?
This moment is a rare opportunity. For the first time in decades, we have the tools, data, and public interest needed to reimagine how we live. Projects like Culdesac aren’t a niche experiment—they’re a prototype for the next era of urban life.
Whether you’re a resident, policymaker, builder, or investor, your role matters. So step in. Speak up. Support change. Because the future we want won’t arrive on its own—it will be built by people like you.
And if we build it right, we might just find ourselves living in cities that finally feel like home.
