Smart Growth: Surveys and Polls
NAR’s Smart Growth program conducts surveys to gauge public opinion on land use, growth and community issues.
2011 Community Preference Survey
NAR's 2011 Community Preference Survey explores Americans' wants regarding neighborhood characteristics such as proximity to parks and shopping, walkability, and commuting time, and the trade-offs in home type and size that people may be willing to accept in order to obtain those neighborhood preferences. The survey reveals that most Americans would like to live in walkable communities where shops, restaurants, and local business are within an easy walk from their homes, as long as those communities can provide detached single-family homes. The survey also shows that most Americans would choose a smaller home and smaller lot if it would keep their commute time to 20 minutes or less.
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2009 Growth and Transportation Survey
An overwhelming majority of Americans believe repair existing roads and expanding public transportation should take precedence over building new roads.
2007 Growth and Transportation Survey
Three-fourths of Americans believe that improving public transportation and building smarter development are better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building roads. More than 70 percent are concerned with how growth and development affects global warming.
What Americans Want: Growth OK if It’s ‘Smart’
2005 Eminent Domain REALTOR® Survey (NAR members only)
To gauge REALTOR® opinion on the eminent domain issue, NAR commissioned Public Opinion Strategies, one of the nation’s leading polling firms, to conduct telephone interviews with 1,200 REALTORS® between August 25 and September 2, 2005.
