CLUSTER HOUSING AT THE RURAL-URBAN FRINGE - THE SEARCH FOR ADEQUATE AND SATISFYING PLACES TO LIVE

Communities at the rural-urban fringe face a significant challenge. Th e challenge is to accommodate new residential development in ways that preserve agricultural land and rural character while providing indivi duals with satisfying places to live. Cluster designed housing develop ments have been proposed as one vehicle for meeting this challenge. Ye t cluster housing can take many forms, some of which are at odds with rural character In this study, 510 farmers, township planning commissi oners, and other citizens living at the rural-urban fringe in Washtena w County, Michigan, provided Adequacy and Satisfaction ratings for thr ee cluster housing developments. Analysis of the ratings uncovered fou r dimensions each for Adequacy and Satisfaction. The results show that cluster housing developments are most acceptable when residential uni ts are built in close proximity with, and oriented to, natural feature s such as woods, farmland open space, and a considerable number of mat ure trees. The implications for maintaining rural character are discus sed.