I toured Culdesac, a Tempe, Arizona neighborhood that banned cars, and found a walkable oasis in the Phoenix suburb

• Culdesac Tempe, a car-free neighborhood in Arizona, opened in 2023.
• Millennials and Gen Zers are paying more to live in walkable communities.
• I toured the carless neighborhood and found a walkable community with micro-retailers.

I’m a New Yorker who doesn’t drive, and I’ve always felt like I couldn’t move without a license. However, on a recent trip to Arizona, I found I was wrong.

Many millennials and Gen Zers don’t want to depend on cars anymore. According to a 2023 study by the National Association of Realtors, they’re paying higher prices to live in walkable communities.

Hence, the rise of walkable neighborhoods like Culdesac Tempe in Arizona, the self-proclaimed “first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US.”

Cars are banned from the 17-acre block in the Phoenix suburb that opened in 2023. As of April 2024, Culdesac had 200 residents, and eventually, they hope to have 1,000, a company representative told Business Insider.

I stopped by the car-free neighborhood for a tour of the block and thought it felt like an urban oasis in the Phoenix suburb.