May 8, 2002
Dear Editor:
Broderick Perkins' May 2 column about NAHB's consumer housing choice survey
("Take a Virtual Walk Through Future Town") misses the point. Perkins
criticizes the survey because it only included recent home buyers. But the survey was done expressly to better understand the tradeoffs that people will accept when it comes time to put their money on the line in one of the biggest investments of their lives. These home buyers have recently been in the market, where they have made the tough choices regarding tradeoffs of price, location, size and amenity. Their choices shape the market and shape communities.
The public has been polled repeatedly about so-called smart growth policies. Most people - and most home buyers - say they support such policies. This
study sought to distinguish the active decisions of home buyers from the passive opinions of the general public. Do home buyers want, as Perkins writes, to eat-their-cake-and-have-it-too? Sure. That's human nature. But we learned from this survey that some aspects of the home-purchase decision are more important to home buyers. Interestingly, while Perkins holds up New Urbanism as an ideal model, many of the things most desired by consumers - according to the survey - are the very things most dear to the New Urbanist movement, including walkability, sense of community and a mix of uses.
This survey demonstrates that home buyers are quite conscious of the tradeoffs they make when buying a home. Our hope is that a better understanding of these tradeoffs will enable us to develop smart growth policies that at least take into account home buyers' preferences.
Sincerely,
Clayton Traylor
Senior Staff Vice President for State and Local Political Operations
National Association of Home Builders
