America's Most Fuel-Efficient Neighborhoods

Forbes.com which regularly brings us fun Top Ten Lists, brings us another one today (America's Most Fuel-Efficient Neighborhoods, by Matthew Swibel, July 7, 2008). Forbes tells us that according to the nonpartisan Center for Housing Policy, for every dollar working families save on housing, it spends nearly $2 on transportation. Their research shows that 15 of the 20 fastest growing U.S. counties are located 30 miles or more from the closest central business districts. Yikes.

We find that owning a home in a walkable neighborhood saves residents $300 to $400 a month on gas expenses alone. So Forbes asked the Center for Neighborhood Technology to help identify cheap rides in America's largest metropolitan areas as energy usage can vary widely within the same market. For example in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the average household in urban East Isles, drives 9,420 miles per year and spends $620 compared to 21,684 miles per year in exurban Rosemount, where monthly transportation costs top $1,000. In most metro areas, including our own, you can do the same.

So where are America's most fuel-efficient neighborhoods? Here's the Top Ten List:

America's Most Fuel Efficient Neighborhoods

Rank, Neighborhood, Monthly Transportation Cost
1. Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)    $643
2. Koreatown (Los Angeles, CA)          $658
3. Logan Square (Chicago, IL)             $742
4. Arlington, VA (Washington, D.C.)   $747
5. The Mission (San Francisco, CA)      $746
6. Fishtown (Philadelphia, PA)             $674
7. Jamaica Plain (Boston, MA)             $728
8. Woodward Corridor (Detroit, MI)     $728
9. Greenville (Dallas, TX)                    $745
10. Montrose (Houston, TX)                $760

According to Forbes:

"You can't always rule out the suburbs. The central location of Arlington, Va., which doubles as a government-contracting hub and a D.C. bedroom community to Northern Virginia's high-tech firms and Washington's downtown section, makes monthly transit costs here cheaper than large sections of the nation's capital."

Hat tip to Jeff Price for forwarding the article. Fishtown and Arlington are pictured.

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.

Comments

[Kevin Beekman]

It's odd that Forbes choose to designate ALL of Arlington County as a neighborhood. I know Fishtown and it's a neighborhood that's not comparable in any way to the size of Arlington County. So I don't know whether Forbes is over-stating or under-stating Arlington's fuel efficiency. If they meant only the R-B corridor then they shouldn't be claiming the same efficiencies for the rest of the County. BUT if they really meant this to apply the WHOLE County...well, that's really saying something.