Land‐Use Compatibility, Change, and Policy at the Rural‐Urban Fringe: Insights from Social Capital

Population growth and development at the interface between expanding urban areas and historically rural, agricultural regions of the United States are creating challenges for local governments, residents, and farmers (Nelson, Daniels).New residential development in relatively rural areas with limited local services and infrastructure can lead to conflicts concerning the level and quality of services to be provided in the community (Pendall and Martin, Lacayo).Nonfarm development also impacts agriculture, with the loss of farmland and the difficulties of farming amidst a large nonfarm population receiving considerable attention by citizens, policy makers, and academics (American Farmland Trust).Successfully managing changes at the ruralurban interface requires improved data, technical expertise, and political leadership at all levels of government.Success also depends, we believe, on the existence of social capital.In this article, we focus on the importance of social capital in managing change at the rural-urban interface.Our starting assumption is that individuals or communities with access to social capital at the rural-urban interface are better able to mitigate local land-use conflicts and better manage local change and development in a way that balances the diverse and potentially competing interests of community stakeholders.For example, the existence of social capital between a farmer and a nonfarm neighbor can facilitate communication that allows a farmer to do field work at times not conflicting with the outdoor activities of nonfarm neighbors.At the community level, a commu-