Podcast Episode 137

with our guest Jeff Speck

Walkable City: Making Better Places

This week my guest is Jeff Speck, a city planner and urban designer who advocates internationally for more walkable cities. His book, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time was written not just for designers, but to also convert generalists to his cause. Walkability doesn’t just impact city planning; it has huge effects on economics, health, and the environment. Jeff’s TEDtalks on the subject has been viewed over 4 million times.

We built our cities to accommodate pedestrians for centuries and they worked well. Now we’re building our cities structured around the idea of everyone driving cars and they are significantly less efficient. Separating the work, home, and hobby aspects of our lives through city planning has created less livable, less equitable environments. Jeff shares the ways our government and laws have made walkability more difficult and how he and other city planners have been working to change those laws and add value to communities. This is a slow process, but Jeff says every city across the US could benefit from a walkability report.

We remind listeners that there are sacrifices to be made by living in a more walkable environment, but the benefits can significantly outweigh them.

“You should have as good a time you can while you’re alive, while giving as good a time to as many others as you can.”

– Jeff Speck