San Juan, Puerto Rico is about to do what many mainland American cities can only dream of — become a walkable city. It’s all part of a massive $1.5 billion plan that will improve mass transit, create new roads and intersections, and improve beach access.
The Walkable City plan, unveiled last month, offers up 60 pages worth of strategies on how to diversify and repopulate the old part of San Juan (“the Isleta”), develop waterfronts, protect historic assets, and more. By 2030, the proposal imagines that San Juan will be completely walkable.
It’s an ambitious plan, to be sure, but Puerto Rico hopes that it will keep natives from leaving en masse. If only other cities with declining populations (i.e. Detroit) could afford to follow San Juan’s lead!
+ Walkable City San Juan
Via FastCompany
If this plan is ever completed San Juan would be a wonderful place to visit but the people there would have to improve. My trips through San Juan were an eyeopener with the bad state of the city. Crime seems to be out of hand and the place looked unsafe.
I wish the city well though, it’s an ideal location for cruise ships.