Realtors: Buyers prefer smart growth to sprawl
In what may be the most incisive research survey of consumer preference real estate in recent years, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that Americans prefer smart growth to conventional suburbia by a 56 percent to 43 percent margin. In a neutrally worded, carefully calibrated nationwide survey of 2,000 people, NAR allowed respondents to choose between a series of characteristics associated with sprawl and smart growth.
The NAR survey makes clear, perhaps better than any other one conducted, how many competing and conflicting choices buyers weigh in home purchases. For example, 80 percent of people prefer a single-family house on a large lot. And, 87 percent of respondents say that privacy from neighbors is an important concern in choosing a house. If the NAR went no further than that, we could say case closed — Americans prefer sprawl.
On the other side, 78 percent of buyers said a short commute — 30 minutes or less — is an important consideration. Places to walk, such as a grocery store (75 percent), pharmacy (65 percent), hospital (61 percent), and restaurants (60 percent), are strongly preferred by house buyers. Most telling — and this may have been the first time anyone has ever asked this question in a nationwide survey — 88 percent of people say the neighborhood is more important than the house in choosing a place to live.
The following was the choice presented to survey participants, with the Community A representing conventional suburbia and Community B representing smart growth. Community A:
• There are only single-family houses on large lots.
• There are no sidewalks.
• Places such as shopping, restaurants, a library, and a school are within a few miles of your home and you have to drive most places.
• There is enough parking when you drive to local stores, restaurants, and other places.
• Public transportation such as bus, subway, light rail, or commuter rail is distant or unavailable.
Community B:
• There is a mix of single-family detached houses, townhouses, apartments, and condominiums on various sizes lots.
• Almost all of the streets have sidewalks
• Places such as shopping, restaurants, a library, and a school are within a few blocks of your house and you can either walk or drive.
• Parking is limited when you decide to drive to stores, restaurants, and other places.
• Public transportation, such as bus, subway, light rail, or commuter rail is nearby.
One criticism of the framing of this question is that crime, price, and commute times were assumed to be equal in the two options. Some urban neighborhoods have more of a crime problem and/or are pricier than distant suburbs, but commute times tend to be shorter. The survey indirectly addresses the price question, because if you get a larger lot you are paying less for the house — all things being equal. Crime has become less of a concern in many walkable neighborhoods in cities and inner-ring suburbs.
The NAR findings are significant in light of an oversupply of conventional suburban subdivisions and an undersupply of smart growth neighborhoods (see June 2011 New Urban News).
