Quote:
Originally Posted by The North One
Pretty much any housing typology can be urban and walk-able in the right context/form.
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Form absolutely matters. Pre-war areas of small-lot detached SFHs can certainly provide very charming streetscapes to stroll along. I grew up in an inner ring burb like that and you can certainly do much, much worse.
But it's important to differentiate between "pleasantly walkable" and "functionally walkable". density does count for something in that it usually correlates fairly well with the amount of amenities that are available to actually walk to within an easy and convenient walking distance, say a half mile radius or so.
Areas dominated by SFHs (even small lot ones) usually don't get above 10,000 ppsm, and 5,000 ppsm is much more par for the course, which does limit the amount of services and amenities that can be supported within an easy and convenient walking distance of any given house.
Now if you happen to be lucky enough to live in one of the few houses one or two blocks over from your suburban village's traditional town center, then good on you for paying attention to the details and finer points.
However,
generally speaking, someone living in a detached SFH dominated neighborhood with 5,000 ppsm will have a lot less things close by (within that half mile radius) than a Philly rowhouse neighborhood of 30,000 ppsm.
Now of course, a parade of cherry-picked counter-examples will be forthcoming from those ignoring the fact that I'm speaking in broad generalities here.