There are many wonderful benefits to having reliable transit and being well-connected to jobs, housing, and services. It costs less than relying exclusively on a car, it creates a smaller carbon footprint, and it’s safer than driving. However, being well-connected also provides significant social benefits that are often overlooked.
The crisis of social isolation
In 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General released a report called “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” The report found that about 50 percent of adults in the country are feeling lonely, and people of all ages are spending significantly less time with others. Humans are innately social beings, and establishing community, friendships, and trust are imperative to our societal and personal health. Lack of socializing can increase health risks like depression, dementia, heart disease, and even lead to self-harm. At the societal level, the lack of strong social connections and the absence of a social fabric holding us together lead to greater distrust among adults. For the average person, trust is imperative for working better together and improving economic transactions, such as repaying loans and following through with contracts. When we are socially connected, we are stronger as a community, as a country, and as individuals.
While there are numerous causes of this phenomenon (and it’s hard to overstate the impact of technology like cellphones and social media), it’s imperative to consider how the built environment can contribute to loneliness and social isolation. Housing, transportation, outdoor spaces, community organizations, local businesses, and public policies all mold and can encourage social connection. Prioritizing infrastructure that is designed almost exclusively for cars (also known as urban sprawl) only exacerbates loneliness.
Consider that most people who live in car-centric communities need a vehicle to complete almost any daily task, such as going to work, dropping children off at school, running errands, or grocery shopping. While driving a car may seem convenient, that convenience can come at the expense of the casual encounters and sporadic interactions with neighbors, acquaintances, or even friends that—though small—help build a community’s social fabric. Compare this to individuals who live in denser, walkable communities where they can walk or ride transit to local grocery stores or parks, creating more built-in opportunities for small conversations and running into friends. Even casual encounters, like seeing the same daily strangers on a regular commute, can spark the feeling of connection.
Urban sprawl’s most obvious impact is how it disconnects people and communities geographically. As sprawl expands, residential areas move further away from social destinations like bars, restaurants, parks, libraries, and bookstores. Isolation becomes worse in car-centric areas that either do not have a car and rely on asking for assistance from others or need to depend on underinvested and unreliable transit systems.
Density, walkability, and reliable transit improve our social lives
Our physical environments shape how we connect with one another. It determines how often we have face-to-face interactions and promotes meaningful interaction beyond a few words exchanged at a checkout counter or the drive-through. Building communities that are in proximity to spaces like community centers and parks helps people make social connections (for both planned and unplanned interconnection). It establishes more opportunities to strike up conversation and share spaces for common activities like sports and exercise by physically bringing people closer together. This is also known as a “third place” or a familiar public spot where people regularly connect with others over a shared interest or activity. The term was coined by Ray Oldenburg in the 1990s to make the case for the importance of informal and spontaneous public gatherings. This term is in contrast to first places (home) and second places (work), as it is a place where people can simply enjoy others recreationally over conversation and shared interests.
Living in a walkable area can protect against loneliness, especially for people who are older and do not have access to personal vehicles. If an elderly person is no longer able to drive a car due to poor eyesight and doesn’t have a transit connection or the ability to walk, they have fewer opportunities to connect with friends, family, and community groups. Simply put, you are more likely to interact with other people when walking or riding transit (spaces where you are in physical proximity) to destinations, in contrast to being locked away in a car.
Density, walkability, and reliable transit are foundational to connecting and improving communities. They build trust, improve our social lives, reduce carbon emissions, reduce spending on gasoline, and create physically safer environments. Building communities through these smart growth strategies can foster social connection and reduce feelings of loneliness. The Surgeon General’s report even concludes with recommendations to adopt a “Connection-in-All-Policies” approach, including policies that increase access to public transit.
To smart growth advocates, the benefits of reliable transit, density, and walkability are obvious when considering the environment, safety, public health, and economic and financial responsibility. But being well-connected is also about community and how we shape our relationships with others. Smart growth is not just a political and economic issue; it is about strengthening our social ties, trusting each other more, and establishing stronger communities.
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