Paragraphs Environmental Design

Residential Density and Transit Proximity in Selected Metropolitan Counties: Evidence from the Smart Location Database

Original Research · Environmental Design · 2025, Volume 3, Issue 3: 40–59

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.24161079

Matthew W. Fuchs, P.E.*

Former chair of the Architectural Engineering and Building Construction Department, Milwaukee School of Engineering

*Correspondence: fuchsw42@gmail.com

Received: June 2025 | Accepted: July 2025 | Published: September 2025

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Abstract

Residential density is often treated as a foundation for effective public transport, yet proximity to a stop, scheduled service, and access to destinations measure different conditions. This article analyzes original estimates from the 2021 Smart Location Database for New York, Cook, Los Angeles, King, Harris, and Miami-Dade counties. The purposive sample contains 16,580 eligible residential block groups; 14,156 have usable transit-distance records. Descriptive comparisons, county fixed-effects models, tract-clustered uncertainty estimates, and sensitivity analyses distinguish recorded proximity from distance conditional on a valid observation. A doubling of residential density is associated with a 12.8% lower fitted geometric mean of distance plus one meter after adjustment for employment density, weighted intersection density, employment-household entropy, and county effects. The association persists under alternative weighting, density definitions, and exclusions. However, New York has universal recorded proximity within 800 meters and almost no within-county density-distance correlation, whereas Harris has a much larger unresolved share and substantially lower population-weighted recorded proximity. Logistic sensitivity analysis corroborates the positive density association with recorded 800-meter proximity in the other five counties. These findings support a contextual account of housing-transit alignment while rejecting causal interpretations and universal density thresholds. The contribution is a reproducible comparison that identifies where density corresponds with documented transit proximity and explains why data coverage, geographic scale, service conditions, and distribution must remain separate parts of its policy interpretation.

Keywords: residential density; transit proximity; Smart Location Database; metropolitan counties; accessibility; spatial analysis

Citation

Fuchs MW. (2025). Residential Density and Transit Proximity in Selected Metropolitan Counties: Evidence from the Smart Location Database. Paragraphs Environmental Design, 3(3), 40–59. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.24161079

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