Residential development

A residential development (sometimes simply called a subdivision) is typically a piece of property that is divided into lots with houses constructed on each piece of subdivided land. They became common during the late-nineteenth century.

Before the mid-twentieth century, residential development occurred when farmland or other outlying land was subdivided into town lots. These lots sold mostly to individuals who would construct a home themselves or with the help of professionals such as an architect or contractor. These were seldom built until after they were sold. In other cases, it was common for professional homebuilders to buy one or more lots, erecting semi-custom homes or rowhomes for sale or rent.

After WWII, the rapidly expanding economys of major cities, especially New York and Los Angeles, required thousands of new homes. A new industry was born: Residential Develolpment. Entire farms and ranches were developed, often with one individual or company controlling all aspects of entitlement (permits), land development (streets and grading), infrastructure (utilities and sewage disposal), and housing. Communities like Levittown on Long Island or Lakewood south of Los Angeles saw new homes sold at unprecedented rates--more than one a day. Many techniques which had made the automobile affordable made housing affordable: standardization of design and small, repetitive assembly tasks, a smooth flow of capital. This produced an inevitable sameness, and yet in the sameness was a more comfortable lifestyle than cramped apartments in the cities. With the advent of government-backed mortgages, it could actually be cheaper to own a house in a new residential development than to rent.

As with other products, continual refinements appeared. Curving streets, greenbelt parks, neighborhood pools, and community entry monumentation appeared. Diverse floor plans with differing room counts, and multiple elevations (different exterior "looks" for the same plan) appeared. Developers remained competitive with each other on everything, including location, community amenities, kitchen appliance packages, and price.

Today, a typical residential development in the United States might include a slowly winding street, dead-end road, looped road, or cul-de-sac lined with related homes. Many residential developments have purposefully meandering roads as a means of discouraging speeding automobiles in the neighborhood.

They help form the stereotypical image of a "suburban America," and are generally associated with the American middle-class. Some residential developments can be reserved only to the most wealthy, including gated communities with multimillion-dollar homes.

Problems with Residential Developments

Some criticisms of residential developments may include:

* They do not mesh well with the greater community. Due to their usual nature, they tend to be isolated, often with only one entrance, and therefore are not connected with the rest of the community in many ways.
* Being commuter towns, they serve no more purpose for the greater community than other specialized settlements do. Whereas other planned developments take into consideration their relation to the rest of community, including commercial centers, population centers, and other aspects of community planning, residential developments are often seen as serving no purpose other than housing.

Additional Reading

John A. Kilpatrick, "Subdivision Development", (Chicago: Realtors Land Institute, 1999)