Big Look Survey on Land Use, Oregon 2008
Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall, Inc. (DHM) conducted the online survey from September 17 to 23, 2008, among 842 residents in the state of Oregon that lasted an average of 10 minutes. This research was conducted to assess public attitudes towards land use issues in the state in order to guide the Big Look Task Force in their comprehensive review of the state’s land use system. A stratified (rather than proportional) sample was used to better understand attitudes in the different areas of the state—Tri-County, Willamette Valley, and the Rest of State, with approximately 300 interviews completed in each of the three areas of the state. The effects of land use policies vary from urban to rural areas, while at the same time, Oregonians are ideologically divided across geographic regions resulting in consistent differences in how urban and rural residents view land use regulations and their visions for policy reform. Broadly speaking, urban residents are more comfortable with government regulation and higher taxes to protect and preserve natural spaces and farm land than their rural counterparts. Rural residents tend to be more suspect of government and favor less regulation and taxes.
