Americans today prefer to live in a community where “houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away.” This is just contrary to their thought two years back, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
The Pew centre pointed out that earlier the Americans preferred to live somewhere with smaller houses that are “closer to each other, but schools, stores and restaurants are within walking distance.”
THE SHIFT
The survey showed that the shift was mainly because of Covid 19 pandemic and the accompanying period of telework, remote schooling and pandemic-related restrictions on indoor dining and other indoor activities.
The Pew centre Survey showed that six-in-ten U S adults prefer to live in a community with larger homes with greater distances to retail stores and schools. This is seven percentage points higher than 2019.
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS
Republicans and Republican leaning independents are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaning people to say they want to live in a community with larger houses even if there are greater distances to schools, shops and restaurants. The survey noted that 73 per cent of Republicans said so where as only 65 per cent of them said so in 2019. About 49 per cent of Democrats told the survey that they preferred to live in a more widely spaced community.
COMMUNITIES
About 74 per cent of American citizens who describe their own communities as rural say they would prefer to live in places where houses are larger and farther apart. The survey pointed out that 59 per cent of suburban Americans preferred places with larger houses. Americans in urban communities are about evenly split: 49 per cent say they prefer a community with larger houses that are farther from schools, stores and restaurants and 50 per cent preferred a community with smaller houses, closer to schools, stores and restaurants.
Majorities of White (63 per cent), Black (60 per cent) and Hispanic adults (56 per cent) preferred communities that are more spread out. About six-in-ten Asian American adults preferred to live in communities with smaller houses that are closer together, with greater proximity to schools, stores and restaurants.
AGE GROUP AND EDUCATION
The survey found that majority of the people in all age groups preferred communities that are more widely spaced. Americans with a college degree – particularly those with postgraduate degrees – are less likely than those with less formal education to express a preference for communities with larger houses that are farther apart.
