TY - JOUR AU - David Levinson PY - 2016/08/29 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - A random walk down Main Street JF - TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment JA - TeMA VL - 9 IS - 2 SE - LUME (Land Use, Mobility and Environment) DO - 10.6092/1970-9870/3914 UR - http://www.serena.unina.it/index.php/tema/article/view/3914 AB - US suburbs have often been characterized by their relatively low walk accessibility compared to more urban environments, and US urban environments have been char- acterized by low walk accessibility compared to cities in other countries. Lower overall density in the suburbs implies that activities, if spread out, would have a greater distance between them. But why should activities be spread out instead of developed contiguously? This brief research note builds a positive model for the emergence of contiguous development along “Main Street” to illustrate the trade-offs that result in the built environment we observe. It then suggests some policy interventions to place a “thumb on the scale” to choose which parcels will develop in which sequence to achieve socially preferred outcomes.  ER -