Having studied religious buildings for a few years now, I think about this question: where should religious congregations locate? One could say that it depends on the congregation but there are patterns to the locations of religious buildings. The 2011 book The Place of Religion in Chicago by Wilbur Zelinsky and Stephen A. Matthews looks at the thousands of congregations in Cook County, Illinois and makes several notes about locations:

One factor is the way the religious tradition of the congregations is organized:

“Just how do congregations, or whoever, go about selecting a specific site within a specified territory?
The answer depends upon two leading considerations. First, does the congregation belong to a hierarchically organized denomination in which key decisions filter downward from some central headquarters? Second, if so, does the denomination compartmentalize its domain within nation, state, or city into well-defined parishes?” (65)

This gets at whether the location decision is a congregational one or one made at a higher level of the religious organization. And if the tradition is organized into parishes, this affects location decisions. For example, Catholic, Methodist, and non-denominational Protestant congregations may choose different locations because of their organizational structure.

Other factors to consider: agreement among and closeness to the congregation and the resources the congregation has for a location:

“Is the proposed location convenient and agreeable to the group? And is either the construction of a new building or the purchase, rental, or rehabilitation of an existing one within their financial means?” (67)

These are important considerations: congregations probably do not want a building far from where they are located. But do their resources allow them to have the exact convenient location or the structure they hope to have (as opposed to what they can manage at the moment)?

And some location data among the Cook County congregations:

“For those houses of worship for which we have the relevant information, 1,144 reside at a corner,
compared with 2,252 on lots within the block. Such an incidence of corner locations seems to exceed
what would occur by chance, especially if we consider that the great majority of the multitudinous
storefront churches occupy interior positions.” (68)

A corner – or at an intersection – could offer some advantages including visibility and proximity to more bustling activity.

Is the ideal then a corner near where the congregation lives, within their means, and agreeable to the congregation (and the higher levels of the religious tradition, if applicable)?