There are several other statements that are just plain wrong when applied to the Portland region. One assertion is that people prefer a large lot away from commercial areas or city cores. This may be true in Los Angeles, but in the Portland the trend has been to smaller lots and close in locations. The average lot size in the Metro area has decreased from 13,000 square feet in the mid 1970's to just 6,700 square feet last year. This increasing efficiency has saved thousands of acres of farmland from development and was driven by consumer choice.
Most people place home size and location ahead of lot size.
In the 1996 housing market in the Metro area. On average, doubling the lot size results in a price increase of only 10 percent. The world is a different place today than during the heyday of the single family neighborhood' and many of today's home buyers are looking for more than lot size -they want good neighborhoods and convenient locations. You may have heard that Tri-Met's 1978 forecast for MAX was for 42,000 riders, and we acknowledge that the early forecasting models were not very accurate. However, since Metro's models were improved in me early 1980's, they have produced very accurate forecasts.