Will the Recession Mean the End of Sprawl?

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A glut of suburban housing is one of the root causes of the current recession. Now that the market is contracting, and those houses stand empty, does this means our country will adjust its mindset about what they value in a home and community? Will we see more focus on city centers and smaller, more sustainable dwellings? At Planetizen, Samuel Staley says it wont matter one tiny little bit. At the end of the day, we all like bigger, newer things, including bigger, newer houses:

A review of dozens of econometric hedonic studies over the past decade by Florida State University economists G. Stacy Sirmans and David Macpherson found that the lot size, number of bathrooms, home square footage, and even the presence of a swimming pool significantly increased home value. More strikingly, of the 64 studies that have examined the influence lot size has on home value, 54 found a positive relationship: as lot size increased, home value increased. Ten studies found no statistically significant impact. None of the studies found a negative relationship. In other words, the housing consumers consistently and persistently valued larger lots in their choice over new home purchases.

Read Staley's full essay at Planetizen here.