Forget Urban Versus Suburban. Today, It’s About Walkability.

Just 2.5 percent of the land area of greater New York City is dense and walkable, like Midtown Manhattan, Astoria, Queens, or Jersey City. But in recent years, these neighborhoods have attracted more investment than areas where most people depend on cars for transportation.

Those are findings from a study by a team of George Washington University researchers. The authors are billing it as the region’s first-ever comprehensive census of the built environment in the 31 counties in and around New York City.

“What we’re finding is that there’s new energy for walkable urban places and the market is being attracted back to these places because of changing preferences,” said Tracy Loh, a co-author of the study.

Among the study’s other findings: dense, walkable neighborhoods contain 42 percent of the population, 31 percent of regional real estate square footage, and 53 percent of the region’s $6 trillion in real estate market value. Between 2010 and 2016, commercial tenants signed leases in walkable neighborhoods at double the rate they did in drive-in areas.

“This incredibly small land area is driving the entire economy of the area,” Loh said.

Most of the dense urban areas in metro New York are in or near New York City. But the authors identify dozens of town centers, mostly on rail lines, that could be developed to meet the demand for walkable neighborhoods. They include Bloomfield, NJ, Mineola, New York, and Bridgeport, Connecticut.