What Type of City to Be? Local Government Receptivity to Industrial, Commercial, and Residential Development

The literature on urban development politics provides clues, but no consensus, regarding the orientation of local governments toward specific types of new growth. This paper examines the receptivity of cities to industrial, commercial, and residential development, drawing upon a mail survey of top administrative officials in 330 California municipalities. Bivariate data suggest that communities with highly imbalanced jobs/population ratios seek development that will rectify those imbalances. Multivariate analysis reveals more complex growth orientations, however. Cities experiencing infrastructure problems in accommodating past growth disfavor almost all types of new development, while those with housing affordability problems encourage housing construction and are less receptive to new industry and commerce. Cities with larger populations are more welcoming of most forms of growth, and other demographic, political, and urban ecological factors also shape receptivity to various land uses. The results suggest that the “growth machine” and revenue maximization perspectives may be too simplistic to adequately portray the attitudes of city policymakers.