David Gray and Dr. Richard Jackson, Geography
New Urbanism, or traditional neighborhood design (TND), is a growing trend in American real estate development. It is characterized by mixed-uses, a variety of housing sizes, and pedestrian-oriented streetscapes. It often encourages more efficient land uses, which, in turn, makes way for better transportation planning and less congested traffic patterns. These designs are more akin to pre-WWII development than to the typical contemporary subdivisions. New Urbanism aims to be more family friendly, especially in terms of affordability, but due to several underlying factors, these developments often demand an artificially large cost from homebuyers, excluding many potential residents who would most benefit from this design style.
The original goal of this project was to research the impact of current zoning policy on the American family and how to make it more family friendly, but it became quickly evident that this was too large of an undertaking, so the scope of the project was narrowed to consider the issue of affordability in New Urbanist developments. Within this context, this project considered the causes, possible solutions, and future results of adjustment to the current American land use paradigm as it relates to affordability in New Urbanist developments. This narrowed scope does not deflate the value of the subject for the American family; it merely serves a more specific role. In the end, I was successful in reaching the most important goal of this project—to present my research at the 2005 American Planning Association’s national conference in San Francisco (March 2005), the most significant annual urban planning conference in the country.
The American land use paradigm is complicated, but a few basic generalizations can be made to describe its current condition in respect to the affordability of New Urbanist developments. First, the many elements involved are often interconnected, requiring a change in several elements if progress is to be made. The momentum of suburban sprawl and car culture, government subsidies on automobile fuel and roads, a lack of support for public transit, few visible alternatives, and the hesitancy of banks to support “unusual” projects like TNDs, all favor the continuation of typical residential development and the continued segregation of land use. This cycle is accompanied by further reliance on the automobile and increased traffic congestion. Thus, these factors hinder New Urbanist development to the extent that when one is actually completed, its relative rareness artificially increases the cost of such homes. In order to level the playing field, changes must be made to facilitate the availability of more family friendly development in the form of New Urbanist design.
This leveling of the playing field will only be accomplished once adjustments are made to bring equity to America’s land use. Public transit, which often goes hand in hand with New Urbanist development, must receive equitable consideration when compared to road transport. Likewise, American dependence on gas and road subsidies must be reduced, encouraging the development of multimodal transit and more integrated transportation planning in conjunction with built land uses. Planning ordinances must become more encouraging of sustainable design to allow for more progressive ideas such as New Urbanism to take root more easily.
To compile the research needed to reach these conclusions, I relied extensively on academic authorship in variety of fields and synthesized their findings to produce my conclusions. It is this synthesis that is so important. The fields referenced included economics, environmental studies, transportation policy, and municipal planning legislation. I found that only considering an adjustment to a single factor would likely produce limited results at best. For example, if federal subsidies on gasoline were removed tomorrow, the load placed on public transportation would collapse under the weight of an immediate increase in ridership. In a sense, one problem would replace another. One possible solution would be to redirect resources previously devoted to subsidizing gasoline and public roads towards the objective of strengthening the public transportation infrastructure. This simple example provides a perspective on the interconnected nature of American land use and the myriad of adjustments that would need to take place to make New Urbanism and sustainability in general more affordable.
These changes will require a long term commitment from the public and policy makers. These ideas face serious obstacles, but if consistently and properly pursued, a balanced and equitable land use system should provide for a more balanced transportation scenario, with better integration of land use policy. Public outreach and awareness of the alternatives to typical suburban development will help spread the visibility of more family-friendly options. Addressing sustainability in fuel usage and land consumption will encourage a more efficient application of planning principles.
This project has resulted in more than material for my resume. It has helped me develop better research skills and real world experience. At the APA conference, I was chosen as one of only ten students to present their work, and the sole undergraduate student out of the entire selected body. Additionally, I was nominated as one of two students to represent the Geography Department at BYU’s first Mentored Learning Symposium. My work on the subject has shown potential employers my serious interest in the subject of urban planning, and has helped me to acquire an excellent position as a planner with CLC Associates in Denver. My experience with this project has only strengthened my interest in the subject of housing affordability for American families and I hope to be able to contribute more to the subject in the future.
