Researchers found no evidence that construction of the developments — Brandy Hill Apartments in Mechanicsville; Broadwater Townhomes and Waterside at Ironbridge outside of Chester; the Townes at Meredith Creek near Innsbrook; The Village at Willow Run near Staples Mill and East Parham roads; or Foxwood Apartments in South Richmond — significantly affected nearby property values, property sales or area crime, the report states.

“It’s fear that leads people to oppose these projects,” Jacobson said. “I was planning director of Chesterfield for 18 years or so, and I sat through plenty of those hearings. I totally understand the concerns, but they are based on a false notion that these higher-density, lower-cost projects are going to have a negative impact on their neighborhood.”

Lower cost for purposes of the study meant housing units assessed at $109,000 or less. The cutoff is based on a previous study that identified the percentage of people in the region who are considered to be housing cost-burdened, which means they spend more than 30 percent of household income to keep a roof over their head. The low-cost housing and modest-wage jobs scrutinized in the study are those at or below the 34th percentile of all jobs and dwellings in the region.