Why High Density Housing Doesn't Work (But Could)

Mark Dempsey • Monday February 19, 2007

When Sacramento’s new General Plan proposed an increase of high-density housing in the county, many real estate brokers and developers howled in protest. Apartment and condominium construction is virtually impossible to finance now. Also, developers are reluctant to take on the NIMBY protests about such projects.

On the other hand, infrastructure and transportation costs—both monetary and environmental—decrease dramatically with higher densities, so the County is eager to encourage such projects. For one thing, viable mass transit is impossible without some increase in the planned densities we build. The question is whether the pedestrian-oriented planning proposed in the new General Plan will make these projects viable when they are not built as suburban sprawl.

I contend what brokers and developers are really protesting is the model of building high densities of the last forty years, or so. This model is called “suburban sprawl.” A typical apartment or condominium building in suburban sprawl is a poor imitation of single-family housing. Their design emphasizes privacy above all else. There is little or no accommodation for meeting outside the individual unit. Most tenants meet neighbors in the parking lot—hardly a place designed for lingering—or when they pound on the common wall to tell their neighbor to shut off the stereo. >>Continue Reading This Article>>

Walkable Communities A Top Priority in Housing Boom

Eric Fredericks • Saturday December 17, 2005

One of the major trends in the recent housing boom is that home buyers are now purchasing smaller, more urban homes to avoid long commutes, writes James R. Hagerty in a Wall Street Journal article. James Z. Pugash, chief executive officer of a company which finances housing developments, Hearthstone Inc., predicts that American cities will become European-like, with more midrise developments, fewer square feet per person, and higher housing costs.

The article also cites a 2004 paper for the Brookings Institution by Virginia Tech professor Arthur C. Nelson that says there are at least tentative signs of a rising demand for more compact living environments combining offices, entertainment, and homes. Mr. Nelson cites as an example Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, DC. He writes that in 1990, the conventional wisdom was that the county was completely “built out” and there was no space for more residents. However, the county is encouraging higher-density housing on former industrial sites and transit-oriented development (TOD). The county is still growing rapidly, yet the character of established neighborhoods is being preserved effectively.

Speculation is that the desire for urban living in walkable communities will continue to grow, and condominium construction is soaring. In the 12 months prior to September, sales of condos and cooperative housing rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 942,000 units, up 14 percent. In the same time frame, sales of single-family homes rose only 6.9 percent.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) also recognizes that a top priority of homebuyers is to purchase a home in a walkable neighborhood. “Realtors don’t just sell homes, we sell communities and neighborhoods,� said NAR President Walt McDonald, broker-owner of Walt McDonald Real Estate in Riverside, California in a press release for the 2004 American Community >>Continue Reading This Article>>Survey.