Survey Finds Americans Oppose Development

Americans are twice as likely to oppose new real estate development projects as support them and they will use the political process to protect their neighborhoods from unwanted development, according to The Saint Index ©, a nationwide poll on land-use issues.

“Rather than seeing growth and development as the time-honored stimulus to local and regional economies, the 21st-century issue is about who controls growth and development,” said Patrick Fox, president of The Saint Consulting Group, who conducted the survey.  “Our survey shows that the American public is far more sophisticated about planning and zoning than we thought,” Fox reported. “The most staggering number to me is that one in five families has actively opposed a project.”

The Saint Index forecasts growing grassroots fights against growth and development. “By inference, competitive opposition to other developers’ projects will be contested in far more sophisticated ways in the future,” Fox comments.

“What this means to developers,” says Fox, “is that traditionally business-oriented political leaders may no longer automatically favor all development projects.”
Findings from survey include:

• 73% said their community was fine the way it is or over-developed.  Some 83% of suburban Americans do not want new development in their communities.
• More than 60% believe their local government does a fair-to-poor job on planning and zoning issues. 
• Supporters outnumber opponents only for single-family housing (75% support) and grocery stores (63% support). 
• 81% are opposed to allowing the taking of private property by eminent domain. BFN