Real estate market poll shows preference for new urban amenities

A real estate market poll sponsored by the Los Angeles Times shows a surprising level of preference for the types of amentities offered by new urbanist projects. Published in April, 1998, the poll, conducted by Baldassare Associates, elicited responses from a random sample of 600 homeowners in sprawling Orange County, California. The poll reports that 74 percent of those surveyed rate as highly desirable “a community that is designed to encourage people to stroll about their neighborhoods.” Forty-one percent say that front porches “where people can sit and visit with their neighbors” are very important in choosing a home. Rating much lower on the scale are homes close to a swimming pool (22 percent highly desirable), close to a golf course (19 percent), and within a gated community (27 percent). Respondents also express a preference for older homes with character (49 percent) over brand new construction (39 percent). Although such polls should be taken with a grain of salt, the results mirror in many respects the findings of a recent survey by Market Perspectives in Roseville, California. The firm polled home buyers in five master planned communities across the country. Only one of these communities, Laguna West, was planned using new urbanist principles. Nevertheless, front porches and rear garages receive a very high approval rating, as did narrow streets, a mix of housing types and a town center, according to John Schleimer of Market Perspectives. Meanwhile, in the suburbs of Chicago, the public now seems willing to consider easing zoning restrictions to allow more housing for working class families, says a poll by the Metropolitan Chicago Information Center.