Providing
quality housing for people of all income levels
is an integral component in any smart growth
strategy. Housing is a critical part of the
way communities grow, as it is constitutes a
significant share of new construction and development.
More importantly, however, is also a key factor
in determining households’ access to transportation,
commuting patterns, access to services and education,
and consumption of energy and other natural
resources. By using smart growth approaches
to create a wider range of housing choices,
communities can mitigate the environmental costs
of auto-dependent development, use their infrastructure
resources more efficiently, ensure a better
jobs-housing balance, and generate a strong
foundation of support for neighborhood transit
stops, commercial centers, and other services.
No
single type of housing can serve the varied
needs of today’s diverse households. Smart
growth represents an opportunity for local communities
to increase housing choice not only by modifying
their land use patterns on newly-developed land,
but also by increasing housing supply in existing
neighborhoods and on land served by existing
infrastructure. Integrating single- and multi-family
structures in new housing developments can support
a more diverse population and allow more equitable
distribution of households of all income levels
across the region. The addition of units --
through attached housing, accessory units, or
conversion to multi-family dwellings -- to existing
neighborhoods creates opportunities for communities
to slowly increase density without radically
changing the landscape. New housing construction
can be an economic stimulus for existing commercial
centers that are currently vibrant during the
work day, but suffer from a lack of foot traffic
and consumers in evenings or weekends. Most
importantly, providing a range of housing choices
allow all households to find their niche in
a smart growth community – whether it
is a garden apartment, a rowhouse, or a traditional
suburban home – and accommodate growth
at the same time.
