The Problem Isn't Just Government, It's Developers

[JFman00]

The Next Major Real Estate Cycle: Walkable Urbanism?

If he’s imploring anyone to action, it’s the builders and real estate developers who don’t seem to have picked up on shifting market demand yet, and the policymakers who have the power to clear obstacles to this kind of development (for starters, by promoting multi-modal transportation and mixed land use).

"There’s no value judgment here," Leinberger says. "For people who want the big back yard, this is also good news, because it’s cheap. And the reason it’s cheap is because we as an industry built too much of it."

His tone is harsher for real estate developers, many of whom, he says, are still behaving as if they’re building circa 1980.

"Quite honestly, one of the major reasons that we’re not seeing the real estate industry read these market signals is that it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks," he says. "They know the answer to everything. They’re very strong-headed, and opinionated, and particularly those who have been successful for many decades in building regional malls or subdivisions, they know what the market wants. And dammit, you can’t tell me anything different."