Dividing Lines and Bottom Lines

Abstract

Over the past decade, planners and policy makers have increasingly raised concerns about the undue influence of fiscal criteria on development patterns. However, realestate conditions, local practices, state policies, and community characteristics also shape land-use patterns. This study seeks to unpack these complex relationships through an explanatory model evaluating the construction patterns of mediumsized U.S. cities. The results reveal that although market conditions do help explain development patterns, the fiscal and demographic profiles of cities are also significant factors. In particular, rising public expenditures, statewide revenuelimitation policies, and other fiscal pressures are more strongly associated with certain patterns of development. Specifically, these factors were associated with cities that developed primarily high-value residential units, excluded multifamily units, and developed proportionately more retail than housing. This suggests that fiscal conditions, including those generated by statewide policy, do seem related to the land-use outcomes highlighted by the critics.