Is the neighboring train station or bus depot the glue for the next hot spot in real estate?

Or are citylike and dense, transit-oriented housing projects just a fad – if not a fantasy – peddled by philosophical zealots, or the folks with the bad fortune of owning land on the wrong side of the tracks?

The truth, most likely, is that urban-style living is gaining momentum – even in car-crazy Southern California – as economics stay challenging and housing tastes change. Whether these forces craft a handsome niche, or a wider revolution, remains to be seen.

One key to the more urban living trend is the re-emerging popularity of trains, buses, etc. Despite all the talk about this region being a car culture (and this native New Yorker misses the subway) many Southern California locals have been swept up into the mass-transit tide.

According to the American Public Transportation Association trade group, more mass transit was used last year nationwide than any year since 1956.

All told, 10.7 billion transit trips were taken nationwide, up 1 percent in a year. Regionally, Los Angeles County’s transit agency saw usage grow 2 percent last year. San Diego’s system was 2.6 percent busier in 2013. But in Orange County, transit use was off by 4.6 percent.

Do these trends translate to any momentous switch in selling homes in Southern California? I tossed that question to Scott Laurie – who runs Olson Homes, a small homebuilder from Seal Beach that specializes in modest projects in neighborhoods that typically offer a healthy mix of transit and walkability. The company has enjoyed recent sales success, primarily in the San Gabriel Valley and north Orange County. Olson sold 254 homes last year, up 9 percent from 2012. But this year, sales so far have more than doubled – 45 year-to-date versus 18 a year ago.

Laurie tells me that the push for more urban living reflects broader changes in society, as well as desires of the critical younger house shopper to live somewhere and somewhat differently than places their parents sought out.

His company is seeing young house hunters focused more on neighborhood amenities than, say, a huge backyard. These shoppers are keying into communities that offer nearby jobs, shopping, dining. Having easy access to transit to work or other retail/restaurant/entertainment hubs is also a selling point.

“Younger buyers aren’t that interested in big house, big lot,” Laurie says. “They want to be where the action is.”

Not all of this urban thinking is due to societal taste changes. Some of it is bottom-line economics.

For one, undeniably, financing is a factor. Smaller, denser projects in established communities make builders’ lenders feel better about sales prospects. That means money’s available to build.

And the smaller, urbanized housing often comes with relatively reasonable price tags. That sits well with younger households.

An ample supply of nearby stores or recreation might cut the need for extra vehicles. Plus, these not-suburban projects are a good fit for a lightly discussed shopping force: parents buying a first home for children in order to keep family nearby.

Laurie’s logic can’t be totally faulted – but it does sound a bit stretched for Orange County, epicenter of suburban master-planned communities. This is a region where mass transit hasn’t grabbed any noteworthy share of the housebuying crowd’s thought process.

Laurie argues that many of the county’s well-known suburban developments contain many traits associated with urban lifestyles – the opportunity to live with less driving. These planned communities typically feature nearby education, retail, entertainment and recreation.

And Orange County’s missing urban ingredient – massive mass transit – is there, Laurie says. It’s just under the radar.

Olson had great success in selling a small project near the Orange train station. And Laurie sees the empty land near the Irvine transit hub – parcels largely controlled by the giant Irvine Co. and its hefty competitor, FivePoint, developing the old military base nearby – and guesses that a huge, transit-linked housing development would thrive there.

Of course, the developer notes that such an endeavor may require various political and business quirks to awkwardly coexist – a feat that’s not always easy or possible. But Laurie insists that Orange County – even car-centric South County – will see more dense, transit-linked living because it fits with today’s realities.

“With both parents working, and the events and the emails and the social media – it’s all about time,” Laurie says. “We have put a greater value on time.”

Contact the writer: 949-777-6727 or jlansner@ocregister.com