Benefits of Compact, Mixed Use Development

This report looks at U.S. Census and HUD data at the national level to assemble estimates that can inform the costs of sprawl debate. It concludes from these estimates that multi-family housing puts less demand on schools than single-family housing (per unit), that there is no difference in value appreciation between single- and multi-family housing, that higher density housing results in less traffic generation than lower density housing, and that there is no significant difference in crime rates between low and high density. It also concludes that low density development results in more pollution and less land preservation, that higher density development can be appropriate for otherwise low density communities, that suburbanites find higher-density housing increasingly desirable, and that people across the economic spectrum choose to live in higher density housing. Throughout the report are brief, qualitative descriptions of successful cases of compact development.