Controversial Study Calls Immigration

Key factor in Promoting Sprawl,

Though Much Less So in New Jersey

 

Although immigration has been cited as a contributing factor in the loss of open space to development, it has had a much smaller effect on sprawl in New Jersey than in many other states, according to a new study by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC.

Nationwide population growth accounted for 62 percent of the loss of rural land from 1982 to 1997, and increases in the amount of land use per person, generally considered to be the driving force behind sprawl, accounted for 48 percent of new development on rural land.

Meanwhile, immigration took a much lesser toll in the Garden State, the study concluded. The reason given is that the immigration factor was offset by a steady outflow of native New Jerseyans moving to other states.

During the 15-year period, the State’s population rose just 8 percent, while overall land use increased by 40 percent, the study found. What’s more, 76.3 percent of the increase in New Jersey land use was caused by such factors as larger house sizes, highway building, and the movement of jobs to the suburbs.

Nationally, the study concluded, increases in the amount of land use per person, which many planners and environmentalists consider to be the driving force behind sprawl, accounted for 48 percent of new development on rural land.

The think tank, which advocates a reduction in immigration levels, hopes the findings will bring greater scrutiny of immigration’s role in causing sprawl.

The study compared development statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Natural Resources Conservation Service with population data from the U.S. Census.

The study mentions 20 other factors, including highway construction, affluence and zoning laws, that have increased the amount of developed land per person by 16.2 percent over the 15-year time period. But the study says a 15.5 percent increase in the nation’s overall population has played an even larger role in the loss of open space.

Immigration’s role in fueling sprawl results from two factors, according to Roy Beck, lead author of the report First, while most immigrants still live in cities, more are settling in the suburbs. Also, the arrival of new immigrants in the cities leads to job competition, cultural changes and other factors that cause native residents to move further outward to rural areas.

“There is no question that population growth is a huge factor,.” Beck said.

-- Frank Reysen Jr, NJPO contributing editor, 1/04