I agree with every point (save one) that Jeff Speck makes in this presentation, which is also a summary of his book Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time...

The only point at which I part with Jeff Speck (and this point is also made in the book) is on the economic benefits of walking. His argument is this: If we walk more, we drive less; and if we drive less, more money stays in the US—instead ending up in the pockets of foreigners. This line of thinking, for one, leads us right into the dark barn of American populism, which always has about it the rot of racism (those oil-rich foreigners tend to look like Osama). Secondly, why do we always need an economic reason? Why do always need to appeal to Homo economicus—a new animal in our very old world? Economics is not a core part of our species-being. We must appeal instead to something deeper, something like Homo erectus. Enrique Peñalosa: “We humans are pedestrians. We need to walk, not in order to survive, but to be happy.”