Many suburban workers and residents covet the attributes of cities, Fairfax County EDA national survey finds

One in two would consider changing jobs or moving to a community that offers more

Fairfax County, Virginia USA, Monday, May 18, 2009 -

Almost 60 years after the beginning of the American migration of families and jobs to the suburbs, many of today’s suburban workers and residents confess to missing many of the characteristics of more urban environments. According to a new national survey commissioned by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA, www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org), more than half of those living in suburbs, along with almost half of workers who work in the suburbs, say they want more public transportation, more housing options, greater access to useable green space or a better variety of job opportunities – typical features of cities.

What’s more, the desire for these urban attributes is so great, the survey finds, that one half of those yearning for them would consider changing jobs or moving to a community that has more to offer.

The FCEDA commissioned the survey in advance of its June 18 conference called The New Urban Economic Model: The Transformation of Fairfax County (www.transformingfairfax.org). The conference will examine how forward-thinking suburban communities are meeting the challenges and opportunities of urbanization while maintaining their positions as a desirable location for business – with a strong economy and a higher quality of life.

“The survey results show that a large number of people who work and live in the suburbs want more options where they live and work, and it illustrates the wisdom of communities such as Fairfax County that envision a transformation into more urbanized areas that can offer those choices,” said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the FCEDA. “The Transforming Fairfax conference will highlight what suburban communities can and should do to be well-positioned as the strong business communities of the future.”

Of those who work in the suburbs, about three in 10 (28 percent) of survey respondents, nearly half (47 percent) wish that their working environment offered more, such as:
•    More parks and other open spaces nearby (23 percent)
•    Broader array of employers and work environments (20 percent)
•    Access to convenient public transportation (17 percent)
•    Greater cultural diversity (16 percent)
•    A more walkable environment (14 percent)
•    Proximity to housing options (12 percent)

Not quite half (47 percent) of suburban workers say they would change jobs or employers to work in a location that offered more of these characteristics, while 52 percent said they would not. 

Of those who live in the suburbs, about (32 percent) of survey respondents, half (51 percent) said they wish their community had a wider wide variety of offerings, including:
•    Access to convenient public transportation (23 percent)
•    A broad array of housing options (22 percent)
•    A more walkable environment (22 percent)
•    Arts, sporting events and other entertainment options (21 percent)
•    Greater cultural diversity (19 percent)
•    Employment closer to where they live (17 percent)

More than half (52 percent) of suburban residents say they would move to a community that offered more of these qualities.

About the survey:
For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Americans was interviewed by telephone via Ipsos’ U.S. Telephone Express omnibus.  With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within ± 3.1 percentage points (± 4.4 for the working sample), 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

About the Transforming Fairfax conference:
“The New Urban Economic Model: The Transformation of Fairfax County” event (www.transformingfairfax.org) will be held June 18 at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. The program features a wide range of perspectives on urbanization and how it affects communities that are focused on being high-quality business locations:
•    The morning keynote speaker, Urban Land Institute Senior Resident Fellow (and former mayor of Indianapolis) William Hudnut III will address the audience on “Changing Metropolitan America.”
•    Matthew Crosson, president of the Long Island Association, Inc., will examine how “America’s first suburb" is addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by urbanization.
•    Expert panelists from the Washington and Seattle areas – Deborah Knutson, president of the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County, Wash.; David Robertson, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; and Richard Story, executive director of the Howard County (Md.) Economic Development Authority – will explore how forward-thinking business locations are rising to the challenges of  urbanization.
•    The luncheon keynote speaker, Brookings Institution urban policy scholar Anthony Downs, will address the audience on “What’s in Store for Urbanized Areas?”
•    Senior corporate executives – Terrance Bilbo, corporate vice president of CSC (formerly Computer Sciences Corporation); David Geanacopoulos, executive vice president for public affairs and general counsel of Volkswagen Group of America; and Kevin J. Jacobs, senior vice president for corporate strategy of Hilton Hotels Corporation – will highlight the critical motivating forces that are reshaping the corporate location decision-making process and the implications of urbanization on their companies’ relocation decisions.

Sponsors of the Transforming Fairfax conference include Jones Lang LaSalle, NAIOP Northern Virginia, Visit Fairfax and the Washington Business Journal.