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Business leaders say that walkable downtowns are becoming a crucial tool in what they do.

Surveys of nearly 500 U.S. companies that moved to or expanded in walkable downtowns in the past five years found that senior executives considered these urban, pedestrian-friendly locales vital to helping them compete for talented new hires.

Downtowns that let employees to ditch their cars more frequently are also viewed as a key ingredient in building corporate identity, boosting collaboration, consolidating operations and improving business outcomes, a study of the issue finds.

Titled "Core Values: Why American Companies are Moving Downtown," the study was conducted by Smart Growth America, along with Cushman & Wakefield, a national commercial real estate firm, and researchers at The George Washington University School of Business' Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis.

"The vitality of downtown neighborhoods is driving commercial real estate in a way that's never occurred before," said Paula Munger, director of Cushman & Wakefield's Business Line Research division. (The firm has Salt Lake City offices, too.)

In deciding where to relocate or expand, business leaders said they favored office locations close to restaurants, shops, entertainment and a variety of transit options. Appealing office space and clean, safe surroundings were also important factors.

Salt Lake City officials have made walkability a major theme in urban planning, with policies ranging from creating more bike lanes and pedestrian corridors and fostering in-fill to high-density rezones around light-rail corridors.

A Utah company mentioned in the study, Provo-based InsideSales.com, recently opened new offices at 56 E. Broadway in Salt Lake City — for reasons that echo the national trends.

The company, whose software platform and services aim to boost sales-team performance, is hiring. And the atmosphere and many amenities in Salt Lake City's urban core — especially FrontRunner and TRAX — give the firm a distinct advantage in reaching job recruits, particularly new graduates from area colleges and universities, said Michael Plante, vice president of marketing.

Its new capital offices also let InsideSales.com wow prospective customers visiting from out of town, Plante said.

"That's all part of why we did the Salt Lake City expansion," he said. "They just love to come here."

Smart Growth America is a Washington, D.C., coalition of groups advocating for municipal-planning values that focus on locating housing and transportation options close to jobs, shops and schools.

President and CEO Geoff Anderson said the findings underscore that fostering walkable downtowns "is a crucial economic development strategy for cities." Companies that don't consider a walkable location for their offices, Anderson said, "may be at risk of falling behind."