Current preferences and future demand for denser residential environments

Residents’ preferences for walkable neighbourhoods

“…Lewis and Baldassare (2010) highlighted the importance of ideological position with self-identified conservatives demonstrating lower levels of support for walkable neighbourhoods than their moderate and liberal counterparts. Juxtaposed with the above, strong support for single use, low density suburban environments is a constant theme across numerous studies (Breheny 1997;Filion, Bunting, and Warriner 1999;Myers and Gearin 2001;Leishman et al 2004;Downs 2005;Smith and Billig 2012). The larger homes and gardens, family-friendly services, spaciousness, peace and quiet and lower levels of real/perceived crime of the suburbs are reported to attract and retain residents (Breheny 1997;Couch and Karecha 2006;Mace, Hall, and Gallent 2007).…”

Untapped density: site design and the proliferation of suburban multifamily housing

“…While many authors have debated for and against the hypothetical acceptability of density in suburbia (Ewing 1997, Gordon and Richardson 1997, Carliner 1999, Danielsen et al 1999, Easterbrook 1999, Myers 2001, Morrow-Jones et al 2004, they have overlooked the fact that a large amount of dense housing development already exists in the suburbs and that the market for this housing type continues to grow. Given this reality, the question is therefore not if density would be acceptable or feasible in suburbia.…”

Connecting Regional Governance, Urban Form, and Energy Use: Opportunities and Limitations

“…Some critics suggest that developers are better able to satisfy market demand in a fragmented governance structure that reflects Tiebout's [63] public choice theory of urbanizationdemand they characterize as favoring low density single family housing in the suburbs [22,64]. Conversely, in Myers and Gearin's [65] study of demand for denser residential environments, survey data was used to capture a more nuanced picture of housing demand, showing a growing interest in more traditional neighborhood developments as a result of demographic change. Similar studies by Storper and Manville [66] and Song and Knaap [67] show that households are in fact willing to pay a premium for denser communities, which may be more energy efficient.…”