Culdesac is the first bona fide car-free neighborhood in America

Culdesac almost looks too good to be true. The whitewashed low-rises. The shaded walkways. The balconies overlook rows of trees. Watch the promotional videos and you might suspect some kind of AI trickery. Are those really smiling e-bikers rolling down the brick tiles? Are those real original murals painted on the walls? Is that upscale Mexican restaurant, showcasing authentic Chihuahuan cuisine, just a one-minute walk from any given apartment?

But it’s real. Culdesac, a mixed-use development in Tempe, Arizona, is billed as the “first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the U.S.” You can functionally live here without a motor vehicle. In fact, residents aren’t even allowed to park a car within a mile of the 17-acre property.

“The demand for walkable neighborhoods is huge,” said Blythe Ingwersen, Culdesac’s head of marketing, during a Zoom call earlier this year. “I don’t think there’s one demographic you could nail down. [Culdesac] should open the door to future opportunities.”

Cofounded by Arizona natives Ryan Johnson and Jeff Berens, Culdesac is a concerted effort to transform a windswept desert lot into the portrait of a 15-minute city. The company has partnered with Bird scooters and the car-sharing network Envoy. They gave free Lectric e-bikes to the first 200 residents to sign a lease. The property even abuts a light rail stop. Instead of a parking garage, visitors can use any of the 1,000 bike-parking spaces.

The Phoenix area may seem like an odd choice for a car-free neighborhood, given the city’s reputation for epic highways and low-density sprawl. But Maricopa County has become a testing ground for many thoughtful experiments in urban infrastructure: The 45-kilometer light rail system connects Sky Harbor International Airport to several major municipalities. The valley-spanning canal trails connect to a growing network of bike lanes. Lectric is headquartered in Phoenix and State Bicycle Co. in Tempe. With the exception of high summer, urban Arizona offers a magical climate for human-powered commuting.

“The city of Tempe has been just a great partner for us,” adds Ingwersen. “For a lot of these types of zoning regulations we’ve been requesting, the city has been great.”

Culdesac is expected to expand in three phases, with Phase 1 scheduled for completion this year. The property already has its own grocery store and local hangout, Cocina Chiwas. Phase 2 should include more wraparound structures, or “pods,” along with a communal pool. These residences will integrate with wide walkways, colorful plazas, and retail units.

While nothing official has been announced about sequel projects in other cities, Culdesac’s “about” section reads: “We build neighborhoods [plural] that embrace community, open space, and mobility.” If the Tempe premiere is successful, it’s easy to imagine that others could follow.

To learn more about Culdesac, visit culdesac.com