The debate over urbanism often pits suburbs against urban areas. But the real debate is about walkable areas versus car-dependent ones, according to Christopher Leinberger.
Writing for The New Republic, Leinberger argues that auto-dependence is what sets places apart, and that even suburban areas can be walkable in the sort of "urban" way this debate has been framed in the past.
"Core cities are comprised of pedestrian-oriented urban places, how Jerry Seinfeld lived, but they also include auto-centric suburban places, like the San Fernando Valley in the city of Los Angeles or the Palisades in the District of Columbia. Likewise, the suburbs of those core cities include classic subdivisions and McMansions, like the home of Tony Soprano, but they also include booming places like Old Town Pasadena, Reston Town Center near Dulles Airport outside D.C., and revitalized Jersey City and Hoboken, NJ, on the other side of the Hudson River from Manhattan.
The issue is where are walkable urban places being built, and they are being built in both central cities and the suburbs surrounding them."
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research