Evaluating Housing Dissonance and the Potential for Smart Growth in Rural America

The potential to adopt more sustainable travel behavior and the ability to meet travel needs in small and rural communities is strongly linked with land use. Some evidence points to a large unmet demand in rural US areas for more compact and mixed-use development that could help create more livable and sustainable communities. This project involves a national study to evaluate the types of communities where people in rural areas currently live and how those align with their preferences. This project will focus on understanding neighborhood-level attributes and transportation factors that explain housing location preferences and provide insights into the potential for land-use strategies to address rural transportation needs while reducing emissions.