Do Suburban Growth Controls Control Growth?

This study attempts to replicate results of previous research on the consequences of growth controls in suburban municipalities. It combines longitudinal data for 1970-1980 from census materials with a 1973 questionnaire survey of city planning officials concerning local growth-control policies. Growth controls have only modest effects on subsequent changes in local population, median family income, median rent, and black percentage. We argue that formal policy tools or legislation cannot be accepted as indicating that their stated objectives will be realized. Data on such tools are potentially misleading; research on local growth politics requires more fine-grained information on the balance of forces in the community.