A Quantitative History of Human Scale Neighborhoods in America

Housing markets provide a peek into how people value urban design. By comparing how neighborhoods with different characteristics have changed in value over time, we can begin to see what is working and what isn't.

This research analyzes 38,000 neighborhoods across 50 US cities to understand how housing markets reflect values placed on different urban design characteristics.

Moderately dense, fine grain neighborhoods with a mixture of uses have risen in value far more rapidly than their less human scale counterparts. This interactive map visualizes the historical development of these desirable neighborhood typologies—which have become increasingly scarce as their value has risen.