As sales of new and existing houses continue apace, a number of trends have begun to manifest themselves across the country.

For example, some agents and brokers in established suburbs — those built before World War II — have noticed an upsurge in the number of couples with younger children looking for houses within easy walking distance of suburban business districts.

“They want to be able to have the children walk to the store, or not have to take the car to shop,” said John Duffy of Duffy Real Estate on Philadelphia’s Main Line.

There seems to be a similar trend in older cities and their neighborhoods as well. And it seems to be more than the nostalgic remembrances of childhood by the white middle-class.

The idea of walkability, coupled with efforts to provide viable public alternatives to the automobile, seem to be dominating the discussions among the nation’s planners.

In fact, changing demographics and migration patterns suggest an increasing demand for higher density, mixed-use, walkable developments throughout urban regions.

According James R. Musbach, managing principal of Economic and Planning Systems in Berkeley, Calif., Census data show a larger “melting pot” in the suburbs, with minorities constituting 27 percent of the suburban population in 2000, compared with 19 percent in 1990.

During the 1990s, the population of non-central cities grew by 13 percent, compared to 4 percent in central cities, Musbach told an Urban Land Institute forum in Kansas City, Mo., in April.

Moreover, there is a national trend toward smaller households. The percentage of households with only one or two people rose from 46 percent in 1970 to 59 percent by 2000, and is expected to increase to as more than 70 percent within the next decade, he said. Real estate agents in the suburbs will likely have to change their marketing strategies to meet the needs of this new group of buyers.

The prevalence of more non-traditional, childless households, including healthy empty-nesters, young single and married professionals and more immigrants begs the question “Are we providing enough choices? We now have a very different household picture and we must give different choices” in living and working arrangements, ULI senior resident fellow Maureen McAvey told the forum.

However, even though growth continues to be greater outside the central cities, the viability of the city and the welfare of its inhabitants is important to the suburban communities surrounding it.

ULI senior resident fellow William H. Hudnut 3d said the key to reviving lackluster urban neighborhoods is the residents who will keep the area alive day and night. “It's people living somewhere that make the difference, not just putting in a stadium or arena that people will visit and leave,” Hudnut said. Offering new options in transit, different forms of retail and mixed-income housing are all part of “breathing life into cities,” he said.

While there is no single formula that will work for all metropolitan areas, he said one factor is clear: regional collaboration is critical to make any plan work. “It is insane for communities within the same area to compete against each other,” Hudnut said.

Curtis Johnson, president of the Citistates Group, St. Paul, Minn., emphasized the need for transit-oriented development throughout the region. According to Johnson, transportation policy must work in tandem with land use policy. The key to changing negative public perception about denser, mixed-use development along transit lines is to present an overall package that is “complete enough and sophisticated enough” to convince residents that it will benefit them and cause them to change their “low-density, auto-dependent” tendencies, Johnson said. “Transportation policy-making needs to be reconditioned to achieve a better balance” between funding more roads and funding more transit alternatives, such as light rail, he said. While a public transit system does not solve traffic congestion, it provides an option to driving and creates a magnet for economic development, Johnson pointed out.

Finding ways to improve the growth patterns of urban America means rebuilding communities using methods that minimize the amount of land developed to accommodate population growth, offer a mix of uses, and which offer transit alternatives, said Donald K. Carter, managing principal of Urban Design Associates in Pittsburgh. “Cities are taking a much harder look at how land uses fit with big picture plans for growth,” Carter said. “We have to think it urban design as a regional issue. Our quality of life is very much dependent on how we spend on infrastructure programs. We must reverse the trend of gobbling up more land.”

Published: May 2, 2002

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Al Heavens writes about real estate and home repair and improvement. He is the author of What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating Your Home: Real-Life Advice For Hassle-free, Cost-Effective Remodeling.