February 2008 VOL. 2

Investment Notes

Nearly eight out of 10 Americans believe there should be no new development in their hometown, saying their community is fine the way it is or already over-developed, according to the recently released Saint Index(c) survey of Americans' attitudes toward development. Opposition to local development is up 5 percent after holding steady at 73 percent the previous two years.

The third annual Saint Index interviewed a representative sample of 1,000 Americans, age 18 and older. The Index was conducted during the third quarter of 2007, and is the first of its kind to quantify and track the politics of land use, spotlighting who actively opposes and supports real estate-related projects and why.

The main reasons Americans give for opposing development in their communities are protecting community character (31 percent), protecting the environment (22 percent), and traffic (21 percent). Just 10 percent cited protecting their own real estate values -- but that relatively low response may not be an accurate gauge of how big a role that factor actually plays in opposition to development.

Casinos are now tied with a landfill as the most-opposed type of local real estate project: 76 percent of American adults oppose a casino development in their hometown, an increase from 67 percent a year ago. Casinos are also the most-opposed local land use in Canada, where 85 percent of adults say they would oppose one in their community.

So who are these people opposing development projects? Whether you call them "NIMBYs" (Not in My Backyard), "BANANAs" (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) or CAVE persons (Citizens Against Virtually Everything), the most surprising thing about these passionate citizens is that they come from all walks of life, and are not the archetypical liberals many would assume.

Although NIMBYs are typically non-partisan, their activity levels vary according to geography and project type. For example, the West, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are the most challenging environments for developers, regardless of project type. And, of course, building a landfill is much more challenging than building single-family housing no matter where your project is proposed.

The Saint Index was created by The Saint Consulting Group in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts' Center for Economic and Civic Opinion. This year's survey was performed by The Logit Group.