KRISTINA EGAN
‘Antiquated’ zoning

Forget the expansive four-bedroom, three-garage home on a two-acre lot in some suburban community located far from city conveniences such as public transportation and shops and restaurants. Most consumers seeking to purchase a home in the near future would prefer shorter commute times and neighborhoods with easy access to parks, shopping and restaurants, according to a recent poll.

The poll, co-sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America, revealed that among people planning to buy a home in the next three years, 87 percent selected a short commute as their top priority.

Six out of 10 prospective homebuyers said they preferred neighborhoods that offered a shorter commute, sidewalks and amenities like shops, restaurants, libraries and public transportation within walking distance instead of more-sprawling communities with large lots, lengthier commutes and limited options for walking.

The results are important because they help dispel a myth that people only want to buy big “McMansions” on large lots, according to Kristina Egan, director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance. While some people do prefer large homes with a lot of land, there are clearly homebuyers who don’t, she said.

“There are a lot of people that, given the option, would live in places that are more like village centers,” said Egan.

Still, more than half, or 57 percent, of the respondents to the 2004 American Community Survey sponsored by NAR and Smart Growth America said having a large house on more than one acre of land was “important” or “very important.”

A Developing Trend

The survey, which polled 1,130 Americans from Aug. 26 to Sept. 6 of this year, revealed that a commute time of 45 minutes or less is the top priority in deciding where to live for 79 percent of the respondents.

Other top priorities included: easy access to highways (75 percent) and having sidewalks and places to walk (72 percent).

“We are seeing a trend, particularly among younger people and also older people who are downsizing and wanting to live in what we term smart-growth locations,” said Aaron Gornstein, executive director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Association.

But to make sure that such smart-growth developments are serving everyone, they must include some affordable housing, he said.

“It’s not good enough to have smart-growth projects without a component of affordability,” said Gornstein.

The poll results resonate with what the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance has been hearing from housing advocates, homebuilders, Realtors, planners, business leaders and environmental advocates throughout the Bay State, according to Egan.

The Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, a group of seven nonprofit organizations that was formed last year to change state policy to support smart growth, just completed seven regional sessions that were organized to identify the barriers to smart growth as well as possible solutions.

Feedback from those sessions made it clear that people want to live in areas that are walkable, said Egan.

Municipal leaders know that people within their communities would prefer to be able to walk to the library or stores. But certain laws in the Bay State, particularly zoning laws, have restricted the type of housing and transportation options available to residents and communities, explained Egan.

In fact, zoning reform was consistently noted as the “No. 1 problem” at the sessions that the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance organized, according to Egan.

Zoning laws in many towns push housing to the outskirts of towns and down encourage smart growth. “We have the nation’s most antiquated zoning laws,” she said.

Other barriers to smart growth that were identified include transportation planning – which is not done on a regional basis but on ad hoc basis, Egan noted – and the state’s shortage of affordable housing.

“People drive until they qualify for a house, which means they live farther and farther away from job centers,” she said.

Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said there are many examples of smart growth in Massachusetts, but smart growth has not become the preferred mode of development. The most common development still taking place involves the construction of large single-family homes on big lots, he said.

“The development community and regulators have not caught up to demand and public preferences here,” he said.

In the American Community Survey, minorities were more likely to choose a walkable neighborhood that has a shorter commute, with 59 percent of women, 57 percent of Hispanics and 78 percent of blacks selecting those communities over neighborhoods with larger lots and longer commutes.

Respondents to the American Community Survey were more likely to choose improved public transportation and changing patterns of housing development as a solution to longer commutes rather than building more roads.

In Massachusetts, the MAPC, which is currently in the process of putting together a comprehensive regional plan and has surveyed over 2,000 people in the last few months, has discovered that the demand for public transit is much higher than expected, especially in suburban communities, said Draisen.

“Demand for transit is growing in the suburbs and cities,” he said.

More than half, or 51 percent of survey respondents, chose improving public transportation as the best option to solving long-term traffic problems, while 31 percent believed that developing communities where people don’t have to drive long distances was the best alternative.

And they also want government and business investing in existing communities before pouring resources into new communities away from developed cities and suburbs. Nearly nine in 10 said they want their states to improve existing communities over providing incentives for new development in the countryside.