Development and Land Use

Median Lot Size for New Home Construction in the West

Utilized the Annual Characteristics of New Housing report part of the Census’s Survey of Construction partially funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/. Data found here. Data from the Survey of Construction is broken down by region and nationally, which limited our ability to look at new home construction in the CRBAS specifically.  

 Facts from Survey: 

• 970,000 single-family homes completed in 2021, median size 2,273 sq ft 
• 371,000 multifamily units completed in 2021, median size 1,032 sq ft (rent), 1,261 sq ft (sale) 
• 12,000 multifamily buildings completed in 2021

Proportion of Housing Zoned Single-Family in CRBAS Counties

The ACS Housing Units in Structure Variables – Boundaries – Counties layer, available on Living Atlas was used as the primary data source. A percent change was calculated using the attributes: x1) Percent of housing units that are single-family residential 2010-2014, and x2) Percent of housing units that are single-family residential 2016 – 2020. Using a formula:

Change in Developed Area/Forest Cover in the CRBAS 2001–2020

The National Land Cover Database raster layer was clipped to the CRBAS using the Extract by Mask tool in ArcGIS Pro. Counts of pixels were converted to area by multiplying each pixel by 900 square meters and converting into acres and square miles. Data is summarized here. Forest Cover is the sum of Deciduous Forest, Mixed Forest, and Evergreen Forest. Developed land is the sum of Developed, High Intensity; Developed, Medium Intensity; Developed, Low Intensity; and Developed, Open Space.