What is it?

Local governments use infill incentives to promote the development of vacant land-or rehabilitation of existing structures-in already urbanized areas where infrastructure and services are in place. Prime locations for infill development include downtowns, transit corridors and locations near employment, shopping, and recreational and cultural amenities.

Local governments offer infill incentives for a number of reasons:

• Infill development reuses properties that may have been underutilized or blighted, helping to catalyze revitalization.
• Infill has the potential to boost jobs, purchasing power, and public amenities in urban core neighborhoods and generate tax dollars for local government.
• Infill housing is dense in comparison with housing in suburban areas and represents an effective way to meet a jurisdiction's affordable housing or population growth needs.
• Located in proximity to existing transit routes or within walking distance of services and entertainment, infill development can reduce auto use and accompanying congestion and pollution.

Infill development is an important smart growth strategy for regional equity. Infill development is not, however, always a developer's first choice.  Challenges associated with infill include the small, scattered nature of many infill parcels, complex title issues, outdated infrastructure serving the infill site, and environmental contamination. For these reasons, urban infill is often bypassed by developers for cheap, readily available suburban land.

Last Updated: March 2002