A Tale of Two Cities: Physical Form and Neighborhood Satisfaction in Metropolitan Portland and Charlotte

Although advocates of compact and mixed-use development claim that this form of development supports a higher quality of life, there is little empirical evidence for this claim. This paper uses neighborhood satisfaction as an empirical definition of quality of life in order to assess the relationship between physical form and quality of life. The author examines the effects of block and neighborhood housing density, land use mix, the mix of housing structure types, and street network connectivity on residents' ratings of neighborhood satisfaction. Using a multilevel dataset that combines individual household information with neighborhood contextual variables, the Charlotte, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), which have very different development patterns and land use policies, are compared. Results showed that at the neighborhood level, density and mixed land uses were associated with higher neighborhood satisfaction in Portland, but lower neighborhood satisfaction in Charlotte. At the block level, however, blocks that are exclusively single-family detached housing were associated with higher neighborhood satisfaction in both MSAs. These findings suggest that the influence of compact development and mixed uses on residents' quality of life depends upon the context, and may be sensitive to the spatial scales at which urban form is examined. Compact growth and mixed uses improve quality of life by contributing to higher levels of neighborhood satisfaction, though they may not succeed in low density metropolitan areas. Implications of these findings for planners are discussed.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360802215546
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/4626214
• Authors:
  • Yang, Yizhao
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: pp 307-323
• Serial:
  • Journal of the American Planning Association
  • Volume: 74
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: American Planning Association
  • ISSN: 0194-4363
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjpa20/current

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Empirical methods; Housing; Land use; Metropolitan areas; Mixed use development; Neighborhoods; Quality of life; Streets; Urban development
• Geographic Terms: Charlotte (North Carolina); Portland (Oregon)
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Society; Transportation (General); I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01117815
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 30 2008 12:36PM