I live about 10 min drive from there, and I honestly don't see how it's going to work. Yes it is right on the lightrail line, but otherwise it's not a very walkable area. I guess they are hoping to lock everyone into just doing most of their eating and shopping onsite. Is that actually desirable?
I think they're banking on the rest of tempe over there to have a similar growth soon, and use the cable car that is being implemented. It's a gamble it will grow that way, but it seems like most of tempe right now is being overhauled.
Early iterations won’t be perfect, though I think with what the future holds this will become standard development and created mixed-use walkable neighborhoods.
>guess they are hoping to lock everyone into just doing most of their eating and shopping onsite. Is that actually desirable?
I am sure it would be desirable for the owners of the community, since they can charge the stores more money since they are basically giving them a monopoly within the community.
Well, currently, I just drive my car 10 min and usually eat and shop in the same place. That being walkable does seem desirable, yes. And if the nearest city was accessible by light rail I would certainly spend more time there.
But how many options do you have within 10 minutes? Are there more options if you need them than just one store and restaurant? I think that's what confuses me as to why they didn't create this concept closer to an area that's also walkable to other services.