Is Elizabethton ready for Density

Cities for centuries have been the urban center and economic driver of a region. What specifically differentiates cities from other areas in a region, or a county in our modern era, is density. When we think of dense cities our mind often goes directly to the dilapidated and crime-ridden inner-cities of Chicago, Detroit and New York, but often this is a misconception! As a matter of fact, many cities today recognize the benefits of density and spending millions to revitalize these inner-city areas. Let's talk about some benefits on a smaller city level to see if higher density would be appropriate for future development in Elizabethton.

With more businesses and residential homes per acre everything is going to be much closer together. This would make walking to a restaurant, your insurance agent, or even work much easier. The benefits here directly affect our citizens because less money would have to be spent on gas for a vehicle and a healthier lifestyle can be accomplished walking a half mile to work and back rather than driving. Increased density would also become more attractive for new retailers to locate in Elizabethton.

As density increases in a community, the property tax burden on each property owner also can decrease. Imagine how much property taxes would be if you only lived on a 3,500 square foot lot instead of a 5,000 square foot lot or if your property tax was split between twelve different people in your town home home-owners association instead of six.

An increase in density, much like with property taxes, also making providing city services much more efficient. When a road is built it doesn't matter if there are three houses in that block or 20 condo units, the cost to build the road remains the same. Now there are some instances in which there would be a slight increase for major roads, but this would not be likely for local roads. This same idea can apply to water lines, sewer lines, and electric lines. This also spreads the cost of the utility over more customers making the cost per household cheaper. Along with decreasing costs, Jane Jacobs, a prominent urban influencer, even suggests lower crime rates can be achieved per person in higher density areas because of the number of people who will be moving about the street will increase making it less criminal friendly.

Currently Elizabethton limits density based on a particular zone to 4 units per acre, 5 units per acre, and 8 units per acre and a variety of setback requirements. Could we change this to 4 units per acre, 6 units per acre, and 12 units per acre and what should the city be doing to encourage this type of development? Let's talk about it!