PRESS
RELEASE
10.16.00
Americans
Want Growth and Green; Demand Solutions To Traffic, Haphazard Development
Smart Growth America poll results to be released as elections approach
Fed up with traffic gridlock worsened by runaway sprawl, Americans favor
"smart growth" to reduce traffic congestion, preserve existing
communities and protect the environment and open space, according to a
new national poll. These findings, released today in a report showing
strong public concern about land-wasting development or sprawl, suggest
that the average American is ahead of many public officials in supporting
solutions to sprawl.
Commissioned by Smart Growth America, a new nationwide coalition of over
60 public interest groups, the poll shows that 78 percent of Americans
support policies to curb sprawl, the haphazard and wasteful development
that is damaging the environment and draining resources from established
communities. Over 80 percent of respondents think government should give
priority to maintaining services and infrastructure in established communities
before subsidizing new sprawl. Over 80 percent also favor more cooperation
on growth management among local governments, creating zones for green
space and farmland, and tax incentives to renovate older houses and revitalize
economically depressed neighborhoods.
The report also cites other evidence that Americans’ attitudes towards
growth are changing: rapid growth in the use of public transportation,
strong voter support for smart growth ballot measures, and increased demand
for housing in cities and close-in suburbs. For a copy of the report and
the poll results, go to www.smartgrowthamerica.org.
The poll shows that Americans support the policies that can curb sprawl:
66 percent of respondents said they support requiring all new residential
development to have at least 15 percent affordable homes. And 60 percent
of respondents favor investing more in public transit even if it reduces
funding available for highway construction. Seventy-seven percent support
making neighborhoods more pedestrian-friendly instead of building new
highways.
"We’ve definitely touched a nerve," said Don Chen, director
of the Washington-based Smart Growth American coalition. "People
believe that sprawl and traffic are out of control, and the vast majority
want more open space, reliable public transit and neighborhood reinvestment.
All the evidence shows that Americans support smarter growth, and our
elected officials better start paying attention."
The survey shows that Americans strongly support the implementation of
"smart growth" in their state, which was defined in the poll
as "giving priority to improving services, such as schools, roads,
affordable housing and public transportation in existing communities,
rather than encouraging new housing and commercial development and new
highways in the countryside."
Despite strong public support for curbing sprawl, most regions of the
country have yet to update building and zoning codes to promote more productive
land use, something supported by a growing number of developers and financiers
who are frustrated at obsolete policies that thwart smart growth practices.
"There are many places where smart growth is virtually impossible
due to antiquated land-use laws," said Jonathan Rose, a smart growth
developer from New York and a board member of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, The Enterprise Foundation, and the Natural Resources Defense
Council, three members of Smart Growth America. "Communities should
put in place the rules that will enable the kind of development they want
and that will clearly limit the type of development they don't wish to
proceed."
But achieving smart growth won’t be easy. Funding to support affordable
housing programs is severely deficient nationwide and the supply of affordable
homes lags behind current demand. Investment in public transit—a
key component of smarter growth—falls far behind spending to build
new roads, even though use of public transportation has grown nearly twice
as fast as driving since 1996.
"We need to ensure that all levels of government coordinate efforts
to achieve smarter growth," said Chen. "In addition to a committed
citizenry and business community, smart growth needs support from our
elected leaders."
In September 2000, Smart Growth America commissioned the opinion research
firm Belden, Russonello & Stewart to conduct a geographically balanced
telephone poll among 1,007 adults aged 18 or older. The results were then
weighted by gender, age, region and race to achieve a representative sample.
The Smart Growth America poll follows a 1999 survey by the Pew Center
for Civic Journalism, which found that Americans rank traffic and urban
sprawl as their #1 local concern, tied with crime and ahead of jobs and
education.
Smart Growth America is a nationwide coalition promoting a better way
to grow; one that protects farmland and open space, revitalizes neighborhoods,
keeps housing affordable, and makes communities more livable. For more
information go to www.smartgrowthamerica.com.
Smart Growth America’s members include the Surface Transportation
Policy Project; the Natural Resources Defense Council; the American Farmland
Trust; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; the Congress for
the New Urbanism; The Enterprise Foundation; the National Neighborhood
Coalition; the Environmental Justice Resource Center; Scenic America;
Sierra Club; the National Wildlife Federation; Rails-to-Trails Conservancy;
Urban Habitat Program; the Center for Neighborhood Technology; PolicyLink;
the Trust for Public Land; the Great American Station Foundation; the
National Association of Regional Councils; the Growth Management Leadership
Alliance; the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; the Conservation Fund; the Environmental
and Energy Study Institute; the American Planning Association; and U.S.
Public Interest Research Group.
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