Can Paths Save America's Suburbs?

Shared-use paths—paths designed for pedestrians and cyclists—could create safe and comfortable ways for people to move through the suburbs. Let's find out how they can be integrated into neighborhoods to maximize their positive effect.

Source: me and my research

Produced by Dave Amos and the fine folks at Nebula Studios.
Written by Dave Amos.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
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[greg_]

As someone who walks, bikes, and drives, I tend to categorize paths based on how I interact with motor vehicles. Because the fact is no one really likes cars. You like the one _you_ are riding in, but the rest are "traffic". (When was the last time you heard someone say, "That restaurant has a lovely patio. It's right next to a busy road!") And so, regardless of if I'm protected from being hit by cars, I will still go out of my way to use a path where I do not have to see or hear motor vehicle traffic.

[jackmino]

As someone who lives in the UK, the idea that these path networks are novel and rare is fascinating. I have never been anywhere in the UK where paths like these don't exist absolutely everywhere

[arirahikkala]

Watching from Oulu, Finland. The entire city is connected with a dense web of paths, mostly shared-use, a few with separate bike and ped lanes. Hundreds of underpasses so you don't have to contend with cars, especially in the more suburban areas, where the path network gets even better than the city center. Reading comments about how the place where I live is obviously an unachievable utopia, that you'd have to be naive to believe in, is not my favorite thing in my life, but boy do I enjoy it still.

[realDonaIdTruck]

Front doors opening to paths not roads is one of the best ways to improve quality of life within suburban neighborhoods

[myword]

Paths are better than no paths, but they still cannot rectify the baked in problem of sparcely spaced sprawl where everywhere tends to be a long way from everywhere else.

Ideally cities & suburbs need to find ways to cluster inwards towards shops, services, & transit nodes, reducing the need for car travel, rather than constantly sprawling outwards & becoming ever more car dependent.

[oliviastratton]

My current neighborhood doesn’t have bike paths, but it does have alleyways between houses on every block. This has been really great for me since it means there are dozens of paths running parallel to the main roads that are usually completely free of cars. Great for walking, amazing for biking.

[sunglassesemojis]

A hugely important thing for encouraging use is grade-separated crossings on major roads. My mom lives near a nice, new path system that connects her apartment to the downtown core, but often declines to use it because she hates crossing the giant state-owned stroad that divides her neighborhood from downtown. The intersection she has to cross is 8 lanes— 3 traffic lanes in either direction + 2 turn lanes. A tunnel or bridge crossing would help her feel way more comfortable.

[EdwardHanscom]

Paths are important for making suburbs for friendly for active transportation, but so are bike racks for non-residential destinations. They should be as plentiful as handicap parking spaces.

[deetoher]

Cut through paths were the major difference between the suburbs that I grew up in (built in the 1970s) versus some later ones nearby (built in the 1990s).
Where I lived, it was all dead ends with paths and parks between them. It was often faster to walk between nearby houses than go all the way around in a car.

Thankfully, the local city council realised the mistake of allowing developers in the 1990s to prevent pedestrian cut throughs and more modern developments require them.

[carstarsarstenstesenn]

There was a path in my mom's suburb and a questionable neighbor illegally installed a fence blocking the path. Some people are just against this stuff for no reason

[tHebUm]

As someone who cycles for fun, these sorts of paths are totally invaluable for planning 30ish mile routes exploring the city and wish there were more!

[JoshuaFagan]

My hometown (Colo springs) actually has a pretty extensive path network that I've discovered recently while biking around. The "problem" is that the trails are only used for recreation--they have beautiful scenery, but they don't seem to have a lot of practical use for people.

[ThomasNing]

Paths at the end of cul-de-sacs which have roads on the other side should be mandatory. Shortcuts are a game changer, and they cost barely any space or capital.

Many Sydney suburbs are full of them, and the older ones are often no wider than a minimum sidewalk width, with neighbour fences hard up against either side. They're not very pleasant, but they're wayyy better than walking around the entire block. When you go somewhere that doesn't have shortcuts, it's effectively unwalkable. And of course, the ones in newer suburbs that have a little more room allocated for them are a lot nicer.

[genethebean]

The new San Luis community could benefit from more shade on that trail ... it is sooo sunny especially in a state like California

[definitelynotacrab]

Being able to ride your bike to school builds that foundation that further encourages biking as an adult. The importance of trails like these for that purpose cant be understated.

[elizabethdavis]

They should make it so children can ride to their local school on bike safely

[cedarmyers]

I've always appreciated the regional bike path system in Fort Collins, Colorado. Great for recreation and enjoying nature, but not so great at connecting neighborhoods with retail areas.

You should check out some interesting paths in Prospect New Town neighborhood, in Longmont CO. Looking east and west from 40.135200, -105.106393, the front doors of houses open to walking paths while the cars and garages are on the street at the rear of the houses. These paths along with tree lined Confidence and Tenacity Drives lead to the local businesses and community green. The neighborhood feels nothing like typical Colorado suburban neighborhoods. Worth a visit if you're in the area.

[KSPRAYDAD]

Before watching...yes they should be required infrastructure. Active transportation is more successful when it is more direct...having to wind your way out of a suburb like a car does adds time and effort to getting folks walking and biking. I live in a 15 minute suburb designed in the early 70s...we have very few sidewalks but every road has at least one path leading to the next road or winding through between backyards. I can bike in my community up to 1.5 km then hook up to a major bike route that takes me 25km into town with very few crossings (and they are signalized)

[wwijsman]

In the Netherlands, I have never seen a neighbourhood that lacks paths. The idea is insane to me.

[MichaelSheaAudio]

My town is missing some connector paths. We just call them catwalks around here. My own neighborhood has two parallel streets that go for like 700 meters with no connections between them. A couple pathways would be really nice so people don't have to walk all the way around.

And you mentioned "rails to trails", my town is just finishing up getting old rails removed (sad), so I looked up what they'll be doing with that space, and it does say they'll be converting it to a trail system, which is awesome! Our town is in need of functional trails. We have some recreational ones, but this railroad went straight through town so this should be a great addition.