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Virginia Tech

Neighborhood Attributes Desired by Doylestown Homeowners

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Debate over land development continues to be an issue of dissension between developers and designer. Of particular contention is the issue of neighborhood design. A sector of the design profession has developed a paradigm primarily based on neighborhood design/development of the early twentieth century. This paradigm is known as New Urbanism. While some feel strongly that New Urbanism is the answer to questions related to neighborhood design, others feel that Conventional Suburban Development is what people want. This study aims to determine what the consumer wants in suburban neighborhood design through the means of survey research. The survey employed was based on a previous study conducted by the Conservation Fund in conjunction with Robert Charles Lesser Company (RCLCO) of the Atlanta housing market. The survey asks respondents to choose between attributes associated with New Urban design and those associated with Conventional Suburban Development. This study is focused on the Borough and Township of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Neighborhoods from the Borough and Township were surveyed. The Borough neighborhood is a proxy for a New Urban neighborhood. The Township neighborhoods are Conventional Suburban Neighborhoods. The results between the two groups of respondents are compared to give further insight to consumers' preferences. Results indicate that residents of neighborhoods with New Urban attributes prefer this neighborhood style to Conventional Suburban Development. Residents of Conventional Suburban Neighborhoods are divided on their preference for neighborhood design. The findings show that approximately 25% of the Doylestown housing market desires something other than the predominant Conventional Suburban Development style.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Landscape Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Landscape Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Landscape Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2004

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Fabry, Suzanna
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Bork, Dean R.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Kagawa, Ronald M.
  • Zahm, Diane L.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-03192004-140544
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31500

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Fabry, Suzanna. Neighborhood Attributes Desired by Doylestown Homeowners. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31500