Public Attitudes About Land Use Policy and Their Impact on State Policy-Makers

Results from a study in Ohio, and replicated in six additional states, show public opinion toward state land use regulation to be aggregated around two major attitudes: the Environmentalists stress the impact of negative developmental externalities and favor broader review of land use decisions; the Localists are concerned with accountability and local control of decision-making. An intensive analysis of the Ohio Land Use Work Group reveals the policy-making elite in basic sympathy with the Environmentalists, but constrained by intra-agency rivalries and apprehensions about public reaction. Discussion focuses on the shifting public consensus toward greater land use control, and the implications for state policy-making.