Over the weekend, the Washington Post published a story titled “Why so many Americans prefer sprawl to walkable neighborhoods.” If the headline doesn’t make you raise your eyebrow, then the author’s reasoning certainly will: Citing a recent survey from Pew, the article discusses why people may prefer sprawl (and the big houses and longer commutes that come along with it), despite the many well-known benefits of living in well-connected, walkable areas. While this may be true for some, my colleagues at Smart Growth America (SGA) and I know that isn’t the full story—and we have the data to prove it.
The author argues that smaller living spaces in urban cores make suburban living more attractive to the average American. Yet economic and demographic trends consistently show a growing demand for walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods, not a lack of interest in living there. And the low supply of this kind of housing in the U.S. is shocking: Our research found that less than two percent of land area in the thirty-five largest metropolitan regions in the U.S. comprises walkable, well-connected development.
It’s the popularity and high demand for living in these types of communities that make walkable places among the most attractive—and expensive—places to live, especially as the demand to live there continues to outpace the number of homes available to live in. This imbalance contributes to the higher costs the author references, making these types of communities inaccessible for the many folks who would choose to be able to walk or take transit (rather than drive) to amenities, jobs, and opportunities.
While it can be true that many people prefer detached single-family homes, there are tradeoffs to living there. Many suburban places are just as expensive as urban cores. The author also does a good job of summarizing the negative externalities of sprawl, things we talk about all the time at SGA, like increased vehicle miles traveled and the emissions they cause, deadly streets, negative health outcomes, and increased costs from having to own a personal vehicle.
We know that not everyone wants to live a more urbanized lifestyle, but we also know that many people do. And it is only by helping cities and small towns alike to develop their downtown cores—to prioritize walkability the way that suburban sprawl has been prioritized for 70 years—that we will actually be able to understand if people really prefer the suburbs to smart growth communities. Addressing this housing supply imbalance and creating more dense, well-connected, and walkable communities is critical and core to the work we do at SGA.