Walkable Communities and other Groundbreaking Ideas

 The white flight to gentrification pipeline is one that should be studied. When did all these millennials get the bright idea that walkable communities are way more enriching than sprawling suburbia? I think one possible answer is right under our wheeled studio chairs. College. When suburbia became all that most middle-upper class citizens knew, the college campus became the last bastion of walkable communities that typically only they had access to. Eventually we have come to realize that the “college experience” as it is sold to us is simply having access to food, friends, a place to live, work and play, all within walking distance. The nostalgia lives on in these alumni, who eventually become board members, developers, etc. Where do they set their sights on to evoke a similar experience in the real world? Urban centers. They’re walkable and highly monetizable, a win-win! Unfortunately this has led to gentrification, or perhaps, the collegification of urban neighborhoods that used to be lower income. It’s like a strange form of self-tourism. A burger restaurant here, a microbrewery there, and an increase in property value to top it off.