Washington, D.C. – A new Ridder/Braden poll of Colorado voters reveals startling new concerns among residents about the state’s growing population pressures and the resulting impacts. By wide margins, Colorado voters see a deterioration in their quality of life because of overdevelopment and overpopulation, saying they don’t believe “smart growth” alone can solve the problem.
The poll is one of the most comprehensive ever taken in Colorado of voters’ views on population pressures and sprawl.
By significant margins, voters’ name Colorado’s rapid population growth and overcrowding as one of their top community issues, as well as issues tied to that growth: traffic, sprawl, and development.
Only two percent of voters believe that the state needs to expand its population at all, yet the state is projected to increase its population by 67 percent, from 4.3 million today to 6.4 million in 25 years.
The poll was conducted by Ridder/Braden, Inc., a Denver-based polling firm, for Negative Population Growth (NPG), a Washington-based population policy organization, from March 6-11, 2001. The poll surveyed 500 registered voters in Colorado and has a margin of error of K4.38%.
“Colorado voters want their local communities to be empowered to discourage population growth and development,” says NPG executive director Sharon Stein. “The link between the concerns evident in this poll and expected population increases cannot be ignored.”
Key findings include:
• 78% believe that “the current pace of development and population growth is overcrowding schools and threatens the quality of education.”
• 82% believe “the current pace of development and population growth is a serious threat to Colorado’s natural resources like the Rocky Mountains, our national and state parks, rivers, and open space.”
• 68% say overpopulation is a major problem in Colorado. 72% say that “the current pace of population growth threatens the quality of life in Colorado.”
• Top issues cited as community concerns: Education 29%; Population growth/overcrowding 19%; Traffic congestion 12% (strong majorities say traffic has cut into family time); Sprawl/development 8%; Economy/jobs/wages 7%; the environment/air and water quality 4%; Crime 5%.
• 71% describe the rate of new houses being built in their communities as “much too fast” or “a little too fast.”
• 64% say that “development and sprawl can never be controlled if the state’s population continues to grow.”
• Almost seven out of ten voters say that they are spending more time in traffic and less time with family as a result of the current pace of development and resulting traffic congestion.
• 61% want the federal government to lower immigration levels to reduce the environmental impact and development pressures on communities across the nation.
• 70% said that the state and federal leaders have a “responsibility to enact policies that reduce development and halt population so that a high quality of life, a health environment, and a sound economy can be maintained.”
NPG’s Stein says the survey suggests Colorado voters would favor the following:
4 New controls on the rate of new residential development.
4 New federal limits on immigration.
4 Funding to improve existing schools for students.
4 New controls on building and development throughout the state–especially around threatened natural resources.
“There is a striking level of public awareness and concern about population growth,” says Stein. “When Colorado voters look into the future, they see a steady deterioration in their quality of life unless population pressures are reduced. And they understand what their leaders don’t: that even the best smart growth plans won’t work without if population growth isn’t ended.”
For comment or additional information, contact Alison Green at (202) 667-8950.
