TRANSIT VILLAGES - ASSESSING THE MARKET POTENTIAL THROUGH VISUAL SIMULATION

Transit villages could reduce automobile dependency and improve urban environments; however, there are few contemporary examples of suck dev elopment, in part because of uncertainty about the market demand for t ransit-oriented living. This article assesses the market potential of transit villages using visual simulation techniques. Photoslide images were created to simulate a ''walk'' through four neighborhoods with d ifferent density and amenity mixes. Based on the survey responses of o ver 170 Bay Area. residents, the lowest density neighborhood was the m ost preferred. However, far more respondents liked the simulated trans it village designed at 36 dwellings per acre with nicer amenities than liked the village designed at 24 dwellings per acre but with fewer co mmunity services, The research suggests Americans will trade off highe r residential densities for more amenities in transit village settings . Visual simulations, we believe, provide a richer context for probing the market potential for transit-oriented development than do traditi onal market research approaches because visual simulations convey a wi der array of environmental choices.