PRIDE and Prejudice: The Economic Impacts of Growth Controls in Pasadena

In recent decades there has been a major revival, especially in the United States and Canada, in the adoption by municipalities of growth management controls and development ordinances, particularly in California (Glickfield and Levine 1991) and other fast-growing states with state growth management mandates (e.g. Oregon, Washington, Florida). Typically, these controls are justified as bringing a variety of community benefits such as reduced traffic congestion, lower taxes for infrastructure expenses, improved environmental quality, and preservation of traditional community atmosphere and spirit (Pincetl 1990). On the other hand, as Alonso (1973) argued, the hidden goal was often not to avoid the negative impacts of growth but to discriminate against newcomers, particularly poorer and/or minority newcomers. Another rationale for growth controls is based on the view that the cost of municipal services can rise very rapidly as populations grow larger and become more heterogeneous, and that this situation was made worse by the retrenchment in the 1980s of federal assistance for local infrastructure investments (Schneider 1990).