Major Uses of Land in the United States in 2007

• According to the US Department of Agriculture, the United States’ land area totals nearly 2.3 billion acres.

           - 2% (56M acres) of US lands are in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

           - 60% (1.4B acres) of US lands is privately owned.

           - Only 12% (162M acres) of privately owned lands are in non-agricultural uses

           - There have been no major aggregate ownership changes from 1997-2007

• There remains is a tremendous opportunity to develop raw land in the United States to its highest and best use.

Relevant Statistics about Land Planning:

• According to the US Department of Labor, local government employed 68% of the 34,000 urban and regional planners in 2006. The majority of the other 10,800 are in large private practices near major employment areas.

The Dilemma

• With over twenty years of professional urban and land planning experience, I believe that there is a huge disconnect between where the vast majority of property owners live that need expert advice and where meaningful land planning actually takes place.
  
• The ‘marketing sphere of influence’ that planning firms target based on the geography of their office locale most certainly will leave most of the country out. Instead, only established land development companies that can pay consistent consulting fees are preferred clients and as a result, millions of acres of private land will never get planned beyond their municipal zoning classification.
  
  
  Next Blog: How to Close the Gap

For more information about Urban Planning Service visit our site at www.onlineurbanplanning.com.

Rick Abelson,

Director
Online Land Planning, LLC
www.onlineurbanplanning.com