Demand For Residential Density Increasing

For the past 50 years, the ideal American home has been a single-family detached house in the suburbs-preferably with a white picket fence. But as concerns about sprawl and traffic congestion increase, and household demographics change, developers and planners are wondering how much market demand there may be for denser, more walkable urban environments-essentially, urban town houses and condominiums. Developers concentrate on the suburban ideal home because that appears to be what most people want; but do some people say that's what they want because of their perception that it is what they should want, or their perception that only that housing type offers the range of amenities they want? And if more dense urban homes were produced, would people want them? Those are the questions this forum addresses. Myers and Gearin argue that the demand for centrally located town houses and condos is growing and exceeds the supply. They point to demographic changes-primarily the aging of the baby boomers-and to their own interpretation of various consumer surveys.

Thanks to Congress for the New Urbanism