Culdesac Tempe

Culdesac Tempe
neighborhood
Coordinates: 33°24′52″N 111°53′58″W / 33.4145°N 111.8994°W / 33.4145; -111.8994
StateArizona
Greater Metropolitan AreaPhoenix
CityTempe
Founded2023
Founded byRyan Johnson

Culdesac Tempe is a car-free mixed-use development in Tempe, Arizona that began construction in 2023.[1][2][3][4]

Culdesac Tempe is intended to be a car-free neighborhood in the U.S. housing 1000 residents when completed but with no accommodation for the cars of inhabitants.[5] For residents seeking to commute without an available car, the development is located in Tempe, Arizona about 2 miles (3.2 km) from downtown and is the first project of the startup Culdesac.[5][6] Construction of the neighborhood began in 2019, was estimated to cost $140 million, span 16 acres (6.5 ha), and include 636 apartment units and 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) of restaurant and retail space.[7]

Residents in most of the Phoenix metro area rely heavily on personal vehicles for transportation. Culdesac is expected to eliminate the need for cars by locating most necessary services within the neighborhood and providing mobility benefits via partnerships with rideshare companies and public transit agencies. It is located adjacent to the Smith–Martin/Apache Boulevard station on the Valley Metro Rail network, which flows west into downtown Phoenix. The ban on parking spaces is intended to leave room opportunities for green space including courtyards, gardens, and places for the community to gather in the neighborhood.[7]

Culdesac enlisted Dan Parolek of Opticos Design[8] to leverage their expertise in walkable communities and Missing Middle Housing for the first car-free neighborhood designed for shared mobility in the United States. Opticos led the master planning, designed diverse housing types, and coordinated a multi-disciplinary team including civil engineers, landscape architects, lighting consultants, commercial/food and beverage consultants, and the architect of record.

  1. ^ "Culdesac | Details, Details, Details!". culdesac.com.
  2. ^ Bliss, Laura (September 8, 2021). "Developers Offer Mobility Services to Lure Car-Free Renters". Bloomberg News. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  3. ^ Kusisto, Laura (November 19, 2019). "New Arizona Development Bans Residents From Bringing Cars". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  4. ^ Polakoff, Elliott (August 1, 2023). "Tempe car-free neighborhood seeks to change the way people live". AZ Family. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Ryan (June 22, 2020). "Introducing Culdesac". Medium. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Dougherty, Conor (October 31, 2020). "The Capital of Sprawl Gets a Radically Car-Free Neighborhood". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Richardson, Brenda. "Developer Breaks Ground On A Neighborhood In Tempe, Arizona, For People—And No Cars". Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. ^ "Culdesac Tempe: A Car-Free Neighborhood". Opticos Design. Retrieved June 14, 2024.