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Sprawl Polls, Reports & Releases
Colorado
Polls
Pace of Regional Growth
Sprawl
& Elections
Sprawl & Schools
Sprawl & City / County Services
Benefits
of Mass Transit
Benefits of Smart Growth
Open
Space Preservation
Bipartisan
Poll Finds Growth still the Number One Issue of Concern (Feb '02)
A bipartisan poll conducted on behalf of the Colorado Environmental
Coalition by Talmey-Drake Research and Strategy Inc. and Public Opinion Strategies
overwhelmingly found growth to be the number one issue of concern to Colorado
voters.
AAA's CO Survey Continues
to Show Sprawl a Concern (March '01)
The March 2001 issue of "The Motorist" published by AAA Colorado
has results of a member survey you may find surprising. Some highlights include:
1) that 37% agree that one of the main reasons driving people to the suburbs
is an over-reliance on the automobile and lack of transportation alternatives,
and 2) of those who run errands and/or drive to work, 64% would be willing
to change their mode of transportation if it would ease congestion.
"Poll: Coloradans
See Growth As Threat," Denver Post (March '01)
"Many Coloradans believe growth is posing an increasing threat to the
state's quality of life, according to a poll sponsored by a Washington, D.C.,
anti-growth group" According to the poll, 72% of the respondents agreed
with the statement, "The current pace of population growth threatens
the quality of life in Colorado."
"Smart
Choices or Sprawling Growth - A 50 State Survey. . ." Sierra Club (Sep.
'00)
"This report, "Smart
Choices or Sprawling Growth: A 50-State Survey of Development," is the
Sierra Club's third annual survey of sprawl. It looks at development in each
of the 50 states and
the District of Columbia. Our goal is to help define what's good and what's
bad and to present
evidence -- and hope -- that we can change the way we grow, protect our environment
and
strengthen our communities in the process."
Regional
Growth
"Reining
in Growth," (Denver Rocky Mountain News, 5/14/01)
"Growth pressures got so bad in Arizona that even Rusty Bowers, self-described
"ultra right-wing wacko," found himself pushing for a tough planning
law. Bowers saw the population of Mesa, the Phoenix suburb where he was born
and raised, increase thirtyfold in recent years, from 14,000 to 420,000. "I
don't have a city I recognize; it's a foreign country," he said."
"West's
Growth Still Tops, Census Finds," (Denver Post, 4/3/01)
"The covered wagons of modern America are still moving west.For the fourth
straight decade, the West ranked as the fastestgrowing region of the United
States. U.S. Census Bureau figures released Monday also show the West held
seven of the 10 fastestgrowing cities in the 1990s and the five fastest-growing
states."
Sprawl
& Elections
Despite high-profile losses in Colorado and Arizona, anti-sprawl initiatives
on the ballot last November did fairly well. There were 553 state and local
growth management measures on the ballot. 72% of them were approved. 45% of
the measures dealt with open space preservation, 26% with infrastructure (housing,
schools, transportation, and water quality), 16% with growth management regulations,
and 13% with other things. 69% contained funding provisions. Open space measures
were the most popular, with 78% passing. Transportation measures received
a mixed reception. 86% of measures designed to boost transit were passed and
72% of measures dealing with highways passed, but only 57% of measures that
dealt with both were approved. www.brookings.org/urban
Sprawl
& Schools
This editorial in the Atlanta Journal Constitution cautions against new school
construction contributing to sprawl.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/friday/opinion_a369800ce5350181008a.html
"$92
Million Urged for D-20" (Colorado Springs Gazette, 4/20/01)
"Future residents of rapidly growing northern Colorado Springs might
find themselves short of schools unless voters allow Academy District 20 to
borrow money for new buildings, a committee told the school board Thursday
night.The committee of teachers, parents, administrators, business leaders
and others said the district will run out of space for middle school students
next year and seats for high school and elementary school students by 2005
unless voters agree to spend nearly $92 million on new buildings."
Sprawl
& City / County Services
"Growth
Taking Toll on Policing" (Denver Rocky Mountain News, 4/28/01)
"Colorado's explosive growth during the 1990s took its toll on police
departments along the Front Range. In Colorado Springs, average police response
times have risen from nine minutes to 12 minutes and staffing hasn't come
close to keeping pace with growth. In Fort Collins, Police Chief Dennis Harrison
worries that the department will no longer be able to keep its small-town
atmosphere by responding as quickly to some calls such as noise complaints.
Aurora is scrambling to hire 54 officers over the next two years to meet voter-imposed
staffing levels."
Benefits
of Mass Transit
"Mass
Transit Grows Faster than Highway Driving," (Boulder Daily Camera, 4/17/01)
"While the number
of miles driven on U.S. roads remained steady last
year, the number of passengers riding buses or trains rose to the
highest level since 1959, transit industry figures show..."
Benefits
of Smart Growth
"Savings
Grow on Trees Along Front Range," (Denver Post, 4/18/01)
"The Front Range's
urban forests do a lot more than just sit around looking pretty, a new report
by American Forests shows. The entwined root systems and leafy canopies of
urban trees in the seven largest northern Front Range communities combine
to act like a $44 million regional stormwater management system and remove
2.2 million pounds of pollutants annually - including ozone, carbon monoxide
and fine sooty particles, the group said."
Open
Space Preservation
"Purchase-of-Development Rights: Conserving Lands, Preserving Western
Livelihoods" a new report from the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the Western
Governors' Association, and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association describes
how an increasing number of states and communities are turning to the purchase-of-development
rights (PDRs) as a way to
keep ranchers in ranching and sprawl off the land.
http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=2302&folder_id=193
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