| Abstract: | The lack of timely survey data on resident satisfaction with local public services makes it difficult to verify the legitimacy of resident concerns with the effects of rapid population growth. This study attempts to verify the legitimacy of such concerns by analyzing survey data on resident service satisfaction in a rapidly growing county in Northern Virginia. Using an empirical model that simultaneously incorporates individual- and community-level predictors of resident service satisfaction seems to support resident's concerns; resident service satisfaction is significantly lower in the area of the county (the eastern part) where most new development has occurred. This finding suggests that residents living in comparatively low density communities in the fastest-growing area of the county are not very satisfied with services. One explanation is that these services are not yet in place so they compare unfavorably with the services residents experienced in the communities from which they came. |
