Markets vs Management
2012 Update:
Professor Morrill uses 2010 census to geographically define local social costs of settlement change
Growth Management, the Market, and Settlement Change in Greater Seattle 1990-2007 by Richard Morrill University of
WashingtonAbstract "Not only is the literature [on Growth Management] large; it is contentious. Virtually every piece or research, virtually every author proves unable to maintain a neutral stance. Rather there is an exceptional ideological split between believers in and skeptics of growth management and smart growth. I am no different. For the broad question of whether to utilize growth management or not, the honest answers seem to be: There is probably no significant difference in per capita costs of infrastructure or service provision as between more or less compact urban settlement. This conclusion is also supported from Census of Government data. There is also probably no significant difference in aggregate environmental costs or emissions. There is a trade-off from the use of growth boundaries; open space is perceived as preserved and interference with resource activities is reduced, but there is probably a net transfer of wealth from the less affluent to the richer. Growth management, especially the urban growth boundary, can raise the cost of housing, in turn inducing public subsidy and/or regulation to maintain some affordable housing. My view, from the perspective of 50 years of involvement in these issues, is that of course there can be great social costs from unconstrained consumer sovereignty, such that collective choice to manage growth is defensible and could result in net social gains, but in practice there is also the risk of equivalent, if different, social costs from an uninformed or excessive implementation of growth management." [emphasis added] Note: the Maps of Population and Employment Change referenced in the paper are separated below for ease of downloading. The Downloadable Files section contains a longer version of Professor Morrill's paper that includes his detailed analysis of the GMA research. | Cascade's Subsidy Lane— low income parking—10 hrs. for mega $$   |