Living in the Suburbs Just Isn't a Big Deal Anymore
So says a Matt Kolb, a Real Estate agent in Boulder Colorado, who goes on to say: "People want to live, work and got to school within a six blocks radius - that's changing the way they look at property." A story on MSNBC.com last week (Realtors Peddle Real Estate To Bike-Happy Clients, August 29, AP) discusses how rising gas prices are causing more people to look at real estate in bike friendly neighborhoods and how some real estate agents are even showing their houses by bike. Makes sense. What better way to vividly demonstrate the biking appeal and local trails of a community than on a bike.
Says another agent: "It's becoming more common to see families committing to driving less. I think it's a part of the market that will continue to grow as gas gets more expensive." The article says that real estate agents and industry surveys indicate that home buyers are placing more importance on cutting their gas bills and commute times and that homes near urban centers, and subway, train and bus stops are selling faster than those in the distant suburbs.
We've come across similar stories recently (It's Official. Americans Are Ditching the Car and the Far-Flung Suburbs, July 29, 2008; or Real Estate Agents Discover Walk Score, June 24, 2008).
A Portland State University urban planner, who has studied how neighborhood planning affects cycling habits, advises homebuyers to look for homes in areas with gridded street patterns and to avoid cul-de-sacs. She says "On a bike, you ant to minimize stopping. You're going to want to look at streets with low traffic volume." Seems like we have plenty of neighborhoods around here that fit that description.
Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.
