Walkable urbanism is the development approach that creates pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use and mixed-income places. These places can either be regional-serving (anchored by regionally important employment, cultural and civic institutions, retail and urban entertainment as well as residential) or local-serving (residential with local-serving commercial). Both places benefit tremendously by being transit-oriented.

Christopher B. Leinberger attempts to identify the number and location of “regional-serving” walkable urban places in the 30 largest American metropolitan areas in the U.S., where 138 million, or 46 percent, of the U.S. population lives. 

Read more of Christopher Leinberger’s survey for the Brookings Institute: “Footloose and Fancy Free”