Development Fails the Public Opinion Polls

Patrick Fox writes for PlannersWeb about the public sentiment toward development—long a source of frustration (on both sides of the issue) in communities all over the country. The article includes a lot of data that provides insight into the how and why the public is sometimes hard to convince regarding new development in their communities.

For instance, Fox cites a statistic that states that 79 percent of Americans want no new development projects in their communities, although opposition is generally higher in some parts of the country (i.e., the Mid-Atlantic) than others (i.e., the Northeast).

Another telling statistic from the article: “64% of Americans say the relationship between developers and elected officials makes the process unfair.”