Manufacturing Community

Large-scale developers (mostly suburban) have begun using sophisticated marketing techniques to design and market  neighborhoods that appeal to highly-segmented buyers, according to an article in today's Washington Post.  The practice seems to be accelerating a trend first noted by Austin American Statesman reporter Bill Bishop, who identified the self-segregation of  "blue" voters and "red" voters in neighborhoods and communities.

The article cites a development in Orange County, California,  in which the developer sent out 20,000 surveys that gave insight into certain values of would-be buyers including whether whether they were born again Christians or whether they think protecting the environment is important .  The results told marketers which of the developer's communities would be most appealing to the target - the scaled-down, less-is-more, environmentally friendly neighborhood; the upscale, high-end, look-of-success "winner" neighborhood; or the family-focused, conservative -minded neighborhood with large family rooms.

"These things have always happened organically," said Robert Lang, a demographer at Virginia Tech who studies the exurbs. "What we don't have experience with is a contrivance of this, where it's engineered. . . . You target people, you catch a niche of preference in lifestyle, and it creates a community and intensifies the inward focus of the niche, like an island."

Can these manufactured "places" fulfill their promises to consumers? What, if anything, does this trend mean for cities?  What are the values of city living? And how can city leaders "market" these values? Should they?

It's a fascinating, though somewhat scary piece. Read the full article in the Post here.