A majority of Americans (57%) say they would prefer to live in a community where “houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away,” according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted March 27-April 2, 2023.
About four-in-ten (42%) would prefer a community where “houses are smaller and closer to each other, but schools, stores and restaurants are within walking distance.” The share of the public that prefers more spread-out communities is roughly similar to two years ago, when six-in-ten Americans said this. Public preferences were more evenly divided on this question in fall 2019, a few months before the coronavirus outbreak. As in the past, there are differences in these preferences by party, age, education, race and ethnicity, and community type.
