We all want liveable communities, right? And that means denser urbanisation, a reduction in emphasis on planning for cars, services within walking distance. This is inherently more sustainable in terms of energy, land and resource use.

But what if we don't all want that? What does that mean for professionals striving for sustainability in the disciplines of planning, policy making and architecture?

It seems that lefties prefer urban living and righties prefer rural. And if you think this is a reductionist judgement, take a look at this table:

Table- Liberals want local communities and conservatives want to live in the countryside.

It comes from a 2014 study by Pew Research Centre. Political alignment is calculated from a scale of 10 political values questions. You can see the questions here.

It seems that "those of the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum disagree about everything from the type of community in which they prefer to live to the type of people they would welcome into their families" conclude the researchers.

The stereotype that everyone suspected is grounded in reality. 75% of consistent conservatives would opt to live in a community where "the houses are larger and farther apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away," and just 22% say they'd choose to live where "the houses are smaller and closer to each other, but schools, stores and restaurants are within walking distance."

Too bad for urbanists.

It turns out that Americans are divided almost 50-50 on this. But they don't all disagree about everything. Large majorities of both groups want to live near family and high-quality public schools.

There's a slight difference in tolerance levels between the two extremes: half of consistently conservative people would only like to share space with people who also share their opinions, whereas only 35% of consistently liberal people are that afraid of other views being held by their neighbours.

Table: liberals and conservatives want to live near people who think like them.

41% of consistent conservatives would want to live in a rural area; a further 35% would choose a small town. Under 20% of them would want to live in the suburbs and just 4% in a city.

The position for liberals is a mirror image. 46% would live in a city by preference. 21% would choose the suburbs. 11% a rural area and 20% a small town.

Table: Where you want to live depends upon your politics.

So if liberals are drawn towards city life while conservatives prefer small towns and rural areas what does that mean for city planning and sustainability?

Of course there are many people who don't fall within these extremes, i.e., perhaps the majority of Americans. Maybe these extremists should live in intentional, perhaps even gated communities. They could enjoy their way of life without feeling threatened by anybody else.

In an interesting commentary on our discussion last week about community, the researchers asked people what they valued in their community the most.

As mentioned above, it was good quality schools which featured highly in both ideological camps, although this was slightly less important for conservatives.

Table: most people want to live near family and good schools.

But both camps (and in fact everyone) valued highly access to the outdoors for activities such as hiking, camping and fishing.

Yet there was a big split on access to culture. Three times as many consistent liberals (73%) as consistent conservatives (23%) said they wanted to live near art museums and theatres.

Most liberals (76%) enjoy living in a place with a mix of people from different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Far fewer conservatives (20%) enjoy this. It didn't matter which racial or ethnic group was asked this question.

What are the implications for planners, policymakers and architects of these findings?

Do professionals in these disciplines also have different attitudes towards their professions based upon their ideological loyalties?

In particular because of the geographical location where they choose to practice?

What do you think? For upon the answer depends whether a divided America continues to grow more or less divided.