Infill Development Obstacles

There are numerous practical obstacles to significant amounts of infill development. Available infrastructure is assumed in many cases where it does not exist. It is not necessarily cheaper to provide infill infrastructure than new infrastructure on the low density periphery.

Evaluation of Balanced Communities

Cities have decentralized dramatically over the last 25 years. Increasingly jobs follow housing; suburban housing development is typically the first phase of the evolution of balanced communities. This means that low density suburbs are efficient over time.

Incentives Work Best

St. Louis's civic leaders should consider policies that are in harmony with the historic trend of increasing individual choice. The most effective policies will be those that employ incentives rather than command-and-control planning.

Higher Density Adds To Commuter Time

Higher density development doesn't lead to shorter commute times, less congestion, and a cleaner environment. In fact, a look at the evidence shows that higher density development plans may backfire badly, leading to a major increase in congestion and air pollution.

Growth Pays For Itself

The contention that "growth doesn't pay for itself" is inaccurate and misleading. Fiscal impact studies of the issue are contradictory and inconsistent. Moreover, housing is the necessary magnet for attracting high-revenue producing commercial and industrial development. Even if housing doesn't pay all of its initial direct costs, the economic development that accompanies housing generates a positive revenue tradeoff for local governments.

Small Percentage of Available Land Developed

Despite widespread perception, suburban development is using very modest amounts of land. Total urban and suburban development in the St. Louis metro area takes up less than 1% of Missouri's land area.

Growth BoundariesDrive Up Costs

Urban growth boundaries lead to serious distortions in the market value of land and drives up costs for housing and other development. Ambitious growth management programs, no matter how well-meaning and efficient, usually impose additional costs on new development. These costs are ultimately borne by consumers in the form of higher housing prices and rents. This would have a serious impact on housing in St. Louis. The social implications of these effects on St. Louis's lower income populations have not been adequately thought through.