Benefits of Compact, Mixed Use Development

This report from the Center for Neighborhood Technology uses a metric called “H + T,” which incorporates housing costs plus transportation costs specific to housing location in order to accurately calculate community affordability. Housing costs are determined using the U.S. Census Selected Monthly Owner Costs and Gross Rent. U.S. Census data for residential density, gross density, average block size, transit connectivity index, job density, average journey to work time, household income, household size, and commuters per household are used to estimate auto ownership, auto use, and transit use. These three categories are then used to estimate transportation costs. The resulting H + T metric is used to compare the affordability of compact neighborhoods (those with a balanced mix of uses and easy access to transit) with dispersed ones. Compact neighborhoods were found to be more expensive if housing is the only consideration, but that they are less expensive than dispersed neighborhoods when transportation is factored into affordability.