Like many American communities, Dublin, Ohio, grew from a small rural town in the 19th century into a sprawling suburb in the 20th. Today, it’s embracing a 21st-century development trend: walkability.

An affluent suburb of the Ohio capital, Columbus, Dublin is home to roughly 50,000 people. In recent years, the local government has shepherded the development of a walkable new neighborhood, Bridge Park, and built an attractive pedestrian bridge connecting it to the historic town center. Building on the success of this development, in 2024 the city council announced another ambitious project that will turn a 1980s office park into a walkable district with housing, shops, restaurants, public spaces, and workplaces.

Efforts like these have important implications for climate change. Transportation is the largest source of emissions in the U.S., and the vehicles people use to get around every day are the main culprit. Electric vehicles can help reduce these emissions, but they can’t eliminate them completely; people also need to drive less.

But for many Americans, driving less seems unrealistic. Walkable neighborhoods make up a tiny fraction of the developed land in major U.S. cities, which, coupled with high demand for walkability, makes these communities more expensive than car-dependent suburbs. As a result, many people who would like a walkable lifestyle can’t afford it.

In the greater Columbus area, as in most American communities, the infrastructure and land use patterns are heavily weighted toward driving.

“It’s very hard to overstate how car-dependent the Columbus region is,” said Matthew Adair, an urban planner and researcher who grew up in Dublin. “If you don’t have a car, people assume there’s something wrong with you.”

As recognition of the downsides of car dependency grows, walkability advocates across the country are trying to give people more options for ways to move around. In Columbus, a planned two-mile pedestrian pathway downtown and a new bus rapid transit system showcase the kinds of innovations that large municipalities and regional organizations can bring to bear. But the governments of smaller cities also have important contributions to make, as Dublin’s efforts show.