Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Around the Block

A Recipe for Cutting Traffic: Build More Apartments, Fewer Single-Family Homes

Multi-family housing in the Twin Cities generates far fewer car trips per household than single-family homes. Photo: AlexiusHoratius/Wikimedia Commons

It's not just where you live, but what kind of building you live in that has a profound impact on travel behavior.

In the Twin Cities, for instance, people living in multi-family housing -- apartments, condos, or any kind of dwelling that shares walls with its neighbors -- travel by car 25 percent less than people who live in single-family homes. And they get around by walking, biking, and transit much, much more.

Heidi Schallberg at Streets.mn shares this chart of 2010 survey data from the regional Metropolitan Council, which accounts for all trips -- not just commuting -- made by residents of St. Paul and Minneapolis proper.

If you live in a single-family home, you're much more likely to drive for nearly all your trips, according to a 2010 travel survey in the Twin Cities. Chart: Metropolitan Council via Streets.mn
Twin Cities residents who live in multi-family housing are much more likely to , according to a 2010 travel survey. Chart: Metropolitan Council via Streets.mn
If you live in a single-family home, you're much more likely to drive for nearly all your trips, according to a 2010 travel survey in the Twin Cities. Chart: Metropolitan Council via Streets.mn

Housing type is likely a proxy for several other factors too -- like parking availability, distance from downtown, and access to good transit. But the chart communicates an important point: Building denser housing isn't the traffic nightmare people often make it out to be. In fact, you need it in order to have a low-traffic city.

Schallberg says this type of data should help calm common NIMBY fears that multi-family housing developments will lead to gridlock:

The proposed zoning for housing on the Ford site in St. Paul only includes multifamily buildings. Current residents of nearby single family houses worried about how traffic related to the site will impact them should be relieved their new neighbors are much less likely to drive than they are.

More recommended reading today: Bike PGH reports that 23,000 people turned out for Pittsburgh's open streets event last weekend. And the Better Bike Share Blog shares new research about what low-income people of color want from bike-share service.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Tuesday’s Headlines of Many Colors

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called rainbow crosswalks "a distraction" and called on cities to eliminate them.

July 8, 2025

Monday’s Headlines Are Big and Beautiful

The ginormous GOP tax and spending bill President Trump signed on July 4 will make the air dirtier, a lot of it from tailpipe emissions.

July 7, 2025

The Single Most Important Element In Creating Good Cities

A lot of U.S. cities are getting their "right of way" all wrong — and urbanists can help by getting to know this poorly-understood concept.

July 7, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Charged Up for the Fourth

The Republican megabill is bad for the electric vehicle industry, but it could be worse.

July 3, 2025

Why is the Secretary of Transportation Begging Americans to Take More Road Trips?

Instead of making America easier to see on all modes, the US Department of Transportation is encouraging U.S. residents to just get in their cars and drive.

July 3, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

From mothers with babies in strollers to preteens on bikes, much of the U.S. is hostile to families just trying to get around without a car.

July 2, 2025
See all posts