1/2 Acre Lots
20 years ago, housing development was much different than it is today. What I was looking for back then was a big yard so I could play catch with the kids, set up a swing set, have the room to play outside, and have enough space for my wife’s garden. I desired a piece of property like that because I couldn’t find any houses where there were any parks, walking trails, or common gardens nearby nor any sidewalks that we could use to safely walk to those places.
At that time, a developer might take 10 acres, divide it up into 18-20 lots and build those houses with no other amenities other than the bigger yard. It didn’t matter how close they were to parks or greenspace, not a lot of emphasis was placed on impacts to traffic and schools, and there weren’t any sidewalks.
Today, building standards, ordinances, and amenities play a much bigger role in housing development. The developer will now take that same 10 acres, build the same number of units on 5-6 acres, and create parks, greenspace, walking trails, and sidewalks in the remaining land. They also have to ensure that any new traffic that they generate must be managed to not create any slowdowns over the current traffic flows. They may be required to improve roads if necessary.
The net result, if that ratio is adhered to, is basically the same number of homes, same impact to traffic and schools, but amenities and benefits to the community that never would have existed before.
If a proposed development comes to Harrisburg, and only if it makes sense for the community with no negative impacts to our residents, I will push to maintain that ratio of 2 lots per acre based on the entire acreage of the project so that there is no difference than if they were actually building 1/2 acre lots.
