The live/work/play phenomenon is alive and well, with more real estate developers and cities working to create “trail-oriented development,” allowing people who would rather ride a bike than drive a car to do so in their communities, according to the Urban Land Institute’s latest report, Active Transportation and Real Estate: The Next Frontier. This, notes ULI, is the “latest phase in the evolution of urban development from car-centric to people-friendly design.”
So what does supporting biking (and walking) infrastructure mean for those in the real estate industry? According to the report’s authors, it means they can “play a significant role in creating healthier, more sustainable communities” as well as better position “their projects and communities in a marketplace that increasingly values active transportation.”
Of large U.S. cities, Portland, Ore., had the highest bicycle-commuting rate in 2014, at 7.2 percent, states the report, followed by Minneapolis (4.7 percent); San Francisco (4.4 percent); Washington, D.C. (3.9 percent); and Seattle and Oakland, Calif. (tied at 3.7 percent).
The report covers the essential elements for creating bicycle-friendly communities and provides a number of case studies — in the United States and abroad — to demonstrate how cities are deriving economic and development returns from investing in bike infrastructure.
So dust off your helmet and oil your gears right into the future of real estate investing.
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Jennifer Molloy is senior editor of Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific.
