Fwd: New Study Confirms Sprawl is a Rising Concern

[Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>]

Subject:     New Study Confirms Sprawl is a Rising Concern
Sent:        2/20/20 8:23 AM
Received:    2/15/00 10:45 PM
From:        Scott Martin, SMartin@POBOX.CI.BOISE.ID.US
To:          smartgro@onenw.org  [Pass to Moscow Vision 2020 as info on 
reasons against 'sprawl' - Pew Study.] ]


=====  A message from the 'smartgro' discussion list  =====

CSM story highlighting the results of a Pew Study on Sprawl.
______
Forget crime - but please fix the traffic

* Urban sprawl and traffic top the list of local concerns for many 
Americans today, a new survey reveals. 

By Brad Knickerbocker, Special correspondent of The Christian Science 
Monitor 



Sitting behind the wheel during "beep and creep" time, fuming about how 
long it takes to get home from work, commuters reflect a new social and 
political trend: the growing number of Americans for whom urban sprawl 
has become their top concern. 

Growth and traffic congestion, in fact, have caught up with crime as the 
most serious public problem personally faced by those surveyed around the 
country. And in many urban areas, sprawl-related issues have leapt past 
crime, education, and the economy as areas of concern. 

This presents both opportunity and challenge to politicians seeking votes 
at a time when reduced crime rates have helped make people feel safer, 
and when peace and prosperity have pushed to the background concerns 
about jobs and national security. Al Gore has made a big deal out of 
controlling sprawl, and elected officials around the country - 
Republicans as well as Democrats - have begun to address the problem. 

The Washington-based Pew Center for Civic Journalism this week reported 
the results of five public-opinion surveys showing that "Americans' top 
concerns are directed much closer to home, with dramatic frustrations 
over sprawl and growth now edging out more traditional issues...." 

"Sprawl is now a bread-and-butter community issue," says Jan Schaffer, 
executive director of the Pew Center, "and Americans are divided about 
the best solution for dealing with growth, development, and traffic 
congestion." 

Asked to name "the most important problem facing the community where you 
live," 18 percent of respondents across the country cited building sprawl 
and traffic as their top concern - the same percentage as those citing 
crime. But in urban and suburban areas across the country, the number of 
people who think sprawl is their community's worst problem jumps to 26 
percent - higher than crime or any other issue - and in some areas, that 
concern is far higher. 

In addition to the national survey, which was conducted by Princeton 
Survey Research Associates, Pew specifically sought responses from people 
in Denver, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. 

"In Denver," reports Pew, "an astonishing 60 percent of residents name 
sprawl as the biggest problem facing the area." Forty-seven percent did 
so in the San Francisco area, 33 percent in the Tampa-St. Petersburg 
area. In Philadelphia, an older city with less recent growth, crime 
outpaces sprawl as the top concern. Still, 60 percent of Philadelphians 
think "too much growth and development" is a problem, with 34 percent 
saying it's a big problem. 

Other recent data confirm such findings. A poll released last week by the 
University of Colorado's Institute for Public Policy had 83 percent of 
respondents saying they are "concerned" about growth, with 73 percent 
saying the region is "growing too fast." Two-thirds of those surveyed in 
Colorado said they wanted more government spending to preserve open 
space, even if they had to pay more taxes. 

It's difficult to gauge the political impact of this shift in public 
concerns. At the least, it could cause some serious rethinking among 
elected officials and hopefuls who run primarily on a tough-on-crime or 
cut-taxes platform. 

Vice President Gore has been outspoken in advocating a federal role in 
controlling sprawl, pushing a $2 billion plan to set aside new park land 
and fight urban sprawl. 

Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) proposed a "Growing Smart" 
program that would provide state aid to cities and towns for land-use 
planning. The plan also would increase local officials' ability to 
contain growth within already developed areas. 

In Georgia, officials are looking for federal help to deal with the 
sprawl and resulting traffic and air-quality problems that have hit the 
13-county Atlanta metropolitan area. Last week, officials made a pitch on 
Capitol Hill for $15 million in federal aid. 

"I believe the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority can turn the 
Atlanta region from the poster child for sprawl into a national model for 
regional cooperation and progress," said Catherine Ross, head of the 
state's transportation agency. 

In California, the nation's most populous state, a new legislative 
proposal would require that new state office buildings around the state 
be located in downtown areas. 

"The state has the opportunity to help revitalize downtown areas by the 
location of its buildings," says state Sen. Patrick Johnson (D), one of 
the bill's authors. "This bill fights sprawl and helps rebuild our 
cities." 



------------------------
William K. Medlin
Dev-plan associates
930 Kenneth Street
Moscow ID 83843
208/892-0148
dev-plan@moscow.com