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Planners, government official�, and taxpaying citiz�ns must give as much attention to hovu and when an area is urbanized as to what the "ultimate" pattern o�development may be. RESID�NTIAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1950 �1s in many other metropolitan areas thro�zghout the country, this A rea � experienced tremendous growth in population between 1950 and 1960. The population increased by 340, 000 persons or 28. 7 per cent, in the Metropolitan Area. About 129, 000 housing units were built in the same period. Subtract the demolitions and the nit result is an increase of 117, 000 housing units-�nearly 33 per cent� In an average year during the past decade, 13, 000 new housing units were constructed within the seven countieso These housing units and the local streets needed to service them occupied between 40 and 50 square miles. With growth of this magnitude it is importa�lt to gain a better understanding of these factors which determine when and where growth will occur. SINGLE FAMILY Single family detached housing units have been the predominant type built in the Metropolitan Area, According to the 1960 Census c�f Housing, 66. 8 per cent of the units are of this nature. One factor that has con- tributed heavil,y to the choice of this type unit is the relative availability of suitable land. On page 47 of the Metro olitan Land Stud it was pointed out that the supply of land is more than siz iciento ithin a limited study area there were 428 square miles of buildable land--enough for 80 to 100 years of residential building at current rates. As the supply of land that is easy to build on an� is als o c onvenient to employment c ente rs dwindles , and as changes in the number of persons per housing unit continue, a greater variety of housing types will be needed, The best source of data to ascer�ain the timing and location of new de- ' velopment is building permit infarmation. Unfortunately, this is not available for all communities and would take an unwarranted amount of resource to plot the locations in areas where data are available. There- ' fore, the location of �latted lots has been collected and used instead for the above purpos e s. It wds dete rmined that only a small pe rc entag e of lots platted in recent years were never developedo The time lag between platting and developing, however, affects the interpretation of these data, The following analysis is based on subdivision� of five or more lots platted in ihe seven counties in the years 1950-1961. All of the above plats have been located on work maps at a scale of 1 to 24, 000 (one inch equals 2, 000 feet)� U. S, Bureau of the Census. U. S. Census of Hausin °�1960 Volume IV Components of Inven�ory Chan e Final Report H Part lA, No, 14. U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. , 1962, p. 19, 7