WaPo analysis confirms what many residents already know - Elk Grove lacks 15-minute 'walkable neighborhoods'
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2024/12/wapo-anaylsis-confirms-what-many.html
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| This sidewalk to nowhere on Elk Grove-Florin Road south of Sheldon Road personifies Elk Grove's ranking as a city lacking "15-minute neighborhoods." |
Residents who have lived in Elk Grove for a short time know the city was not designed as a community where shopping, schools, social activities, and especially public transit are readily available to pedestrians.
A motor vehicle is necessary to get around Elk Grove and other regional points effectively. Bicycling is a possibility, but it is a risky proposition for those willing to be on the constant lookout for the countless speeding and reckless motorists plying city streets and roads.
It should be no surprise that a map compiled by the Washington Post verifies this. In a recent story titled "Why so many Americans prefer sprawl to walkable neighborhood," the story's prime focus is on the climate implications of sprawl.
The story notes that while many would like to live in a walkable community, more people prefer to live in neighborhoods with yards and accept using motorized vehicles to conduct their activities.
The story uses a 15-minute model to determine whether a community is walkable. If things like public transit, shopping, and dining are less than a 15-minute walk, it is considered a walkable 15-minute neighborhood.
An interactive map covering 200 American metropolitan areas, including the Sacramento region, was developed and included in the story. Data for the map was derived from the Sony science computer labs in Rome.
A cursory review of Elk Grove neighborhoods has some encouraging indicators. Neighborhoods located immediately next to main thoroughfares, like Elk Grove or Laguna Boulevards, especially where they intersect Brucevillle Road, score under the 15-minute mark for shopping and dining.
However, these same areas are above the 15-minute standard for public transit. Neighborhoods farther from these main thoroughfares range higher, sometimes over an hour for transit, shopping, and dining.
The interactive map and story are available here. (free, but registration required)
While Sacramento County cast the fate of making Elk Grove neighborhoods non-walkable decades ago, the information can help make crucial transit decisions in the future, especially regarding the push for Sacramento Regional Transit's Blue Line lite rail Elk Grove extension or the more immediate possibility of bus rapid transit.
SacRT operations in Elk Grove face the same problem as logistics providers in fulfilling the so-called last mile. Given that almost every neighborhood has a walk of greater than 30 minutes to a future BRT line, light rail station, or existing bus stops, will users be willing to walk up to 30 minutes or more for public transit?
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