CityStories / City Profiles / Medium Cities / Tempe, Arizona
Population: 158,625
- Bike- and pedestrian-friendly
- Green building
- Tempe.gov
Photo Credit: Andy Ferra/Flickr
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe's Transportation Department supports sustainability by promoting walking, biking and alternative modes of transit, and by building a Transportation Center, which opened at the end of 2008—for which the department is seeking LEED-platinum certification.
The building, which is a hub for buses and light rail, also features a green roof, a 12,000 gallon rainwater recovery system, and office and retail space. Tempe's Arizona State University is another one of the city's green-building leaders, with 11 LEED-certified buildings on campus and a requirement that all new university construction be LEED-silver.
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No Cars But Plenty of Life on Broadway. Credit: Paul McRandleThe Natural Resources Defense Council's Smarter Cities project has named fifteen U.S. metropolitan regions...
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Kids getting ready to bike home at this primary school in Utrecht, Netherlands. Ninety-five percent of the older kids bike to school at least some of the time. Credit:...
With the growing popularity of cycling in the Netherlands, finding a parking place for your bike is becoming more difficult, as seen here in the Hague. Credit: Jay...
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Credit:Mary Logan BarmeyerFamous for urban sprawl, bumper-to-bumper traffic and seasonal smog, the Los Angeles region still has many challenges for integrating...
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Credit:Wikipedia CommunityThe New York metropolitan region has one clear historic advantage when it comes to efficient transportation—population density like nowhere else...
Credit:Kyle Gradinger/FlickrDon’t see the link between transit and food? Philly does. The City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority...
Credit:Portland Bureau of Transportation“In Portland it’s almost like cars don’t exist, right? They ride bikes! They ride double-decker bikes! They ride unicycles! They...
Credit: Oconomowoc Transport Co.The 11 new school buses in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin don’t look particularly special. They’re painted the same yellow, carry the same kids and...
Credit:Courtesy of the City of San FranciscoIn San Francisco, “we put transit first, ahead of the passenger car,” says Bridget Smith, acting principal engineer and...
People across the country were surprised last year when Bicycling magazine named Minneapolis America’s “#1 Bike City”, beating out Portland, Oregon, which had claimed the honor...
Credit: Kevin H/FlickrRecently ranked the most tightly packed metropolitan region in the nation, the National Capital Region (4,000 square miles in the District of...
Credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr./FlickrSalt Lake City has the ignominious distinction of ranking as the country’s seventh most polluted city by short-term particle pollution,...
Credit: Oconomowoc Transport Co.Partly rural, partly urban, and close to Sacramento without being under city jurisdiction, the Yolo metropolitan region (which encompasses...
Playbook for Green Buildings and Neighborhoods
The Playbook website provides local governments with guidance and resources to rapidly advance green buildings, neighborhoods and infrastructure. Strategic action in these sectors promotes economic development, builds healthier communities, strengthens energy independence, and supports climate protection.
Green Building: LEED for Neighborhood Development
The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development. Learn more.
Transportation: Bicycling
Cities for Cycling: National Association of City Transportation Officials project to catalog, promote and implement the world's best bicycle transportation practices in American municipalities. Includes several best practices sheets.
Cycling in the Netherlands: Guide to bicycling policies in the Netherlands (pdf)
Fietsberaad: Dutch cycling knowledge center
Bikeability: UK Cycling Proficiency Test
"At the Frontiers of Cycling: Policy Innovations in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany." World Transport Policy and Practice, Vol. 13, No. 3, December 2007, pp. 8-57
"How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road: To Boost Urban Bicycling, Figure Out What Women Want." Linda Baker. Scientific American, October 2009.
Bikes Belong: Research Resources
Designing Cities for Bicycle Transportation
Chicago Bike Lane Design Guide (pdf)
Los Angeles Bike Plan Draft, Chapter 5: Technical Design Handbook (pdf)
Minneapolis Bicycle Facility Manual (pdf)
New City York Street Design Manual
New York City's Ninth Avenue Bicycle Path and Complete Street, for ITE (pdf)
Portland Bikeway Design Best Practices, Appendix D
San Francisco Bicycle Plan Update: Supplemental Design Guidelines (pdf)
San Francisco Shared Markings Study (pdf)
London Cycling Design Standards, Transport for London (UK)
Cycling Guidelines and Practical Details Issue 2, Sustrans (UK)
Collection of Cycle Concepts, Danish Road Directorate (Denmark)
Learn More
Switchboard: Tempe's stunning new transportation hub - It's the way to go
Change Your Commute, Change Your City
Plug and Play: A Q&A with Luke Tonachel on Electric Cars
On Earth: These Roads Were Made for Biking
Greening Advisor: Public Transportation
Clean, Low-Emission, Affordable, New Transportation Act (CLEAN-TEA)
Minute, Morning, Month: Save energy and reduce stormwater runoff. Install a green roof.
Save energy and reduce stormwater runoff. Install a green roof.
LEED for Neighborhood Development
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