Key findings from Walkable Shopping Areas Good for Business:
- There is great enthusiasm for walkable shopping areas among retail experts, developers and many residents of urban and suburban areas.
- Walking shopping areas have a potential to prosper as a result of demographics, increased gas prices, public policies encouraging higher densities and changing life style preferences.
- Businesses can be successful if such areas reach a critical mass, cater to diverse needs, are located in higher density areas or have good mass transit service, and have a supermarket as an anchor.
- With success, enterprises in walkable shopping areas are able to pay higher rents for their space, and housing near walkable commercial areas commonly sells for higher prices than in more distant areas.
Read more of the report here.