新托福阅读材料汇总：城市生活

Gardens in the streets instead of parking places for carbon-emitting cars mean a 7% increase in your property value. Walking-only zones in city centers increase retail sales in those areas by up to 20%. Happier planet, in other words, happier people.

These results come from a recent report from Transportation Alternatives (TA), the New York City group--of which I am a board member--that advocates both for livable streets and for safe and easy biking, walking and transit use.

Citing the TA report, the New York Observer writes:

In Grand Rapids, Mich., property values increased by nearly one-third following traffic-calming measures.

An effort to make downtown Melbourne, Australia, more livable spurred a 50 percent pedestrian volume increase over 10 years. The number of outdoor cafes quadrupled and the number of cafe seats nearly tripled.

After two through-traffic streets in Cambridge, England, were closed, daily traffic levels dropped by more than 7,300 vehicles with no effect on retail.

A survey of shoppers in central London retail districts found that those who walked to stores spent much more over the week than those who drove.

As the Observer says, and I have to assume this would be true of most cities:

"The gathering evidence suggests a sunny mantra: Design additional livable streets and New Yorkers would come—and property owners and retailers would benefit."