Comparing Preferences of Neighbors and a Neighborhood Design Review Board

Because of increases in participatory, neighborhood, and aesthetic planning, nondesigners are being asked to anticipate architectural preferences of other nondesigners. Neighborhood design review boards are a case in point. This study compared the preferences of a neighborhood design review board to the preferences of other demographic subpopulations. It was found that the overall correlations between the preferences of the review board and the preferences of other respondent groups were statistically significant. However, it was also found that the correspondence between the review board and other people decreased when individual projects and specific design criteria were compared.