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April 2006
Article explores link between land-use patterns, behavior
Kevin Krizek
Many urban planners today believe that compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly designs reduce driving and spur transit use and walking. As a result, communities across the country—such as Edina at 50th and France and St. Louis Park at Grand and Excelsior — are moving in this direction. But is there sufficient evidence that these land-use patterns influence people’s behavior?
Assistant Professor Kevin J. Krizek of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs explores this question in an article titled “Household Lifestyles and Their Relationship to Land-Use and Transportation Planning.” His paper was the cover story in the fall 2005 issue of CURA Reporter, published by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
Krizek, a CTS Faculty Scholar, worked with data from more than 10,000 individuals in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area. The good news for many urban planners, Krizek reports, is that three distinct lifestyles employ walking or transit services: (1) commuters who are walkers or transit users, (2) urbanites who are walkers or transit users, (3) and urbanite travelers with high walking/transit use. “The not so good news,” he continues, “is that the combined population represented by these three lifestyles accounts for less than eight percent of the study sample—suggesting that the overwhelming majority of the population does not subscribe to a lifestyle conducive to walking or using transit.”
What’s more, Krizek says, “the eight percent is roughly equivalent to the portion of the population of the Twin Cities metro area who ride transit or walk.” Thus, relying solely on land-use planning to reduce travel would appear to have limited value, he predicts.
His research, Krizek added, was not able to predict what portion of the population might switch their behavior to take advantage of higher density neighborhoods.
To read more or to subscribe, visit the CURA Reporter home page.