Poll: Most Maryland Voters Think Future Population Pressures Will Destroy Quality of Life

Huge Majorities Think Current Pace of Development Threatens State's Natural Resources, Education

Washington D.C. (Sept. 12) - A new Mason-Dixon poll of Maryland voters reveals startling new concerns among residents about the state's growing population pressures and the resulting impacts. The poll is one of the most comprehensive ever taken in Maryland of voters' views on population pressures and sprawl.

Most voters do not believe Maryland's leaders are able to deal with the pressures of the state's projected population increases. "Seventy percent of Maryland voters think the current pace of development is an outright threat to the quality of life in Maryland," says the Mason-Dixon report (hereinafter the "report") accompanying the findings. "An overwhelming majority think that Maryland's projected 20 percent population increase over the next 25 years is an urgent problem," the report continues.

The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for Negative Population Growth (NPG) from July 19 through July 23, 2000. The poll surveyed 631 registered "likely" voters in Maryland, and has a margin of _4%.

"Maryland voters are looking to the state's leaders to make changes in the state's direction," says Sharon Stein, executive director of NPG. "Maryland's already the fifth most densely populated state in the nation. When combining overpopulation with concern over education and crime, you have a potentially explosive issue," she continued.

Key findings include:

• Eighty percent of voters said that state and federal leaders have "responsibilities to enact policies that reduce development and slow population growth so that a high quality of life, a healthy environment and a sound economy can be maintained."
• Seventy-three percent think that the primary beneficiaries of growth and development are a narrow group of developers and related industries.
• Despite their preference for the state's Smart Growth policy, 60 percent said that they were not confident that elected leaders can effectively balance development and population growth with maintaining the quality of life in Maryland.
• Sixty-eight percent of Maryland voters express concern about the current level of immigration to the state, and 58 percent want the Federal Government to lower immigration levels to reduce development pressures on the environment.

"When considering the myriad of issues, voters identified population and growth related issues as the most important impacting their communities. When combining concern for traffic, sprawl and overcrowding, the total is 25 percent," said the report.

NPG's Stein says the survey suggests Maryland voters would support the following:

• Strict controls on the rate of new residential development.
• New federal limits on immigration.
• Funding priorities that improve the quality of schools rather than building new ones to accommodate a constant influx of new students.
• Political leadership that is willing to impose strict new controls on building and development throughout the state - and especially around or near the state's delicate, precious natural resources.

"There is a striking level of public awareness and concern," says Stein." "When Maryland voters look into the future, they see a steady deterioration in their quality of life unless population pressures are reduced. It should be an urgent priority, lest the issue and its related components - such as education - become flashpoints for the state's electorate," concluded Stein.