Exploring the Impacts of TOD Housing Stock and Built Environments on Housing Costs in Twenty-Six U.S. Metropolitan Areas

This paper contributes to the debates on housing supply efforts and the “missing middle” argument by examining the relationships between the share of metropolitan housing units in three types of compact transit-rich built environments and TOD housing rent. The census block groups of twenty-six U.S. metropolitan areas with intra-urban light, heavy, or commuter rail service were classified into six categories based on proximity to rail, housing density, and walkability: three rail-proximate built-environment types (high, moderate, and low density and walkability) and their three non-rail equivalents. Additionally, the studied metropolitan areas were grouped into three clusters based on housing and transit characteristics.