NBC News – RENTAL Community in Tempe Arizona With No Cars (SMART City)
Reporter: This brand new rental community in Tempe Arizona has all the amenities, fitness center, dog park, outdoor kitchens, but something’s missing. So there are no cars in this community at all.
This is just like SMART Cities or a 15 Minute City that the WEF mentions.
Co-founder Ryan Johnson: Isn’t it great?
The Lie of How Popular Living Without a Car
Reporter: Cul-de-sac is the first community in the U.S. designed and built specifically for car-free living. Co-founder Ryan Johnson says the demand is strong.
Co-founder Ryan Johnson: Every generation, including 90 percent of Gen Z, would like to pay more to live in a walkable neighborhood with no cars.
The Sell of Having Everything Close by
Reporter: Retail, restaurants, and to start, nearly 200 apartments, all within steps of each other. No cars means no parking spaces, no garages.
Co-founder Ryan Johnson: Because we don’t have residential parking, it opens us up to have 55 percent landscape space. We get to add so much to the neighborhood.
The Bribes to Move to Tempe Arizona SMART City
Reporter: Like social spaces around every corner. The complex is strategically located right next to the area’s light rail system. All residents get a free pass. The first 200 also get a free electric e-bike and a partnership with Lyft gets them discount rides because there are no cars.
Juan Ramos Resident: I’ve been fine just going via rail or just biking.
So has anyone thought that living in Tempe Arizona within this SMART City, with no cars, might be a problem if there is a FIRE. Or maybe a Power Outage where you need to get food? Is there going to be a Lift Car for all 200 Residents? Maybe someone gets badly injured and needs a ride right away to the hospital? Is SMART Cities really Smart?
Talking About Being Friendly with Neighbors
Reporter: Juan Ramos, among the first 100 to move in here, grew up in Arizona, but left because he didn’t like the car-dependent sprawl. At 27, he just came back and says living with no cars has opened his eyes.
Juan Ramos SMART City Resident: Frankly, for most of the apartments I’ve lived in for years, I’ve never even talked to my neighbors. I know people, like, that’s Pete over there, that’s Ben over there, and I’m like, that’s the first time I’ve said that.
Soooo… What about Privacy? There is a always a good and bad with every situation. Especially a “SMART City”.
SMART City Businesses
Reporter: Residents often gather near the retail stores, which focus on small businesses. Jada Stratman is moving both her home sense business and herself in.
Jada Stratman Business Owner: It’s not as, like, affordable out here as it was a few years ago, you know. Having that opportunity to live and work where you are and just have it as one, that’s perfect.
The Test of Time Living with No Cars
Reporter: Walkable neighborhoods are all well and good when the weather’s fine, but temperatures here in the summer can sit over 100 degrees for weeks at a time. That’ll be the real test to see if carless living can really go the distance.
WEF Klaus Schwab – No Car Ownership. Automatically Guided Car
Automatically guided car, self-driven car will come to your hotel or wherever you are and will bring you to the airport. Actually, I had a discussion some months ago with the mayor of Los Angeles and you know Los Angeles is one of the cities with the heaviest traffic who told me in 2030 Los Angeles will be private, no cars, and will allow to transform highways into parks and other public spheres.
