Home Page Prince William Citizens for Balanced Growth
Balancing residential growth with traffic, tax, local economic, school, and quality-of-life issues

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  General Reports on Balanced Growth Issues



County citizen surveys (2008-10)     
2007 County citizen survey


2006 County citizen survey                        
2005 County citizen survey

Media analysis & commentary
Media reports
Links on this website to related reports






ArrowUp(b&w) 2010 County Citizens Survey Summary  |  2009-10 Comparison  |  full text



2009 County Citizens Survey Summary  |  2009-10 Comparison  |  full text



2008 County Citizens Survey (full text)



("Supervisors Get Survey Results" by Keith Walker, Potomac News, 9 Aug 2007)


The top seven:
Citizen satisfaction with:
The bottom seven:
Citizen satisfaction with:
-- Service from Library Staff  (98.9%)
-- Emergency Medical Rescue (98.5%)
-- Fire Fighting in Respondent's Area (998.4%)
-- Security in Courthouse (97.3%)
-- Landfill (96.0%)
-- Convenience of Registering to Vote ( 94.9%)
-- Assistance from 911 Operator (94.6%)
-- Coordination of Development with Road Systems (35.5%)
-- Rate of PWC Growth (44.0%)
-- Ease of Travel in PWC (46.9%)
-- Land Use Planning and Development (47.5%)
-- Appearance of Illegal Signs along Major Roads (49.2%)
-- County Efforts to Preserve Open Space (51.5%)
-- Public Transportation in PWC (57.0%)
According to the executive summary of the 2007 County Citizens Survey (full text):   1. "In general, people are least satisfied with development and transportation issues, suggesting that these areas are in need of improvement despite the significant progress with the ease of travel of getting around within Prince William County."  2. In the "Long-Term Trends" section,  "satisfaction with the job the County is doing in planning how land will be used and developed is down approximately 6 percentage points from 1993."  3. Again from the "Long-Term Trends" section, "satisfaction with the County’s value for tax dollars is up more than 15 points since 1993."



ArrowUp(b&w) 2006 "Citizen Survey: PW residents still happy with libraries, tired of traffic"
(by Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times, 10 Aug 2006


The top five:
Citizen satisfaction with:
The bottom five:
Citizen satisfaction with:
-- Libraries (99.2%)
-- Balls Ford Road Compost Facility (99%)
-- Landfill (98.3%)
-- Fire protection (97.9%)
-- Medical rescue (95.7%)
-- Getting around the county (39.6%)
-- Growth (44.5%)
-- Planning and land use (44.9%)
-- Citizen input on development (68.5%)
-- Preventing neighborhood deterioration (68.7%)
Other highlights, according to the 2006 County Citizens Survey (full text): 1. "By geographic area, the three lowest levels of satisfaction with the [county's] rate of growth again came from Brentsville, North County, and Gainesville/Linton Hall (22.5%, 29.7%, and 35.3% respectively)."  2.  "Perhaps not surprisingly, given their dissatisfaction with planning, development, and growth, residents of Brentsville [District] were also the least satisfied with the opportunities for citizen input (59.8%)."  3. "Satisfaction with transportation in the county" has gradually declined from 62.7% in 1999  to 39.6% in 2006.



ArrowUp(b&w)  "2005 Survey:  County roads, growth need work"
(by Tara Slate Donaldson, Gainesville Times, 19 Aug 2005)


The top five:
Citizen satisfaction with:
The bottom five:
Citizen satisfaction with:
-- Library staff (99.1%)
-- Landfill services (98.8%)
-- Medical rescue services (98.3%)
-- Fire protection services (98.2%)
-- Voter registration (97%)

-- Coordination of development and roads (34.9%)
-- Getting around in Prince William Counnty (38.1%)
-- Planning and land use (44.8%)
-- Efforts to preserve open space (45.1%%)
-- Growth in county (47.2%)
2005 County Citizens Survey (full text)




ArrowUp(b&w)  Media analysis and commentary:

"Biggest obstacles" in the way of a "robust" DC-area housing recovery said to be "nation's high unemployment rate" and "the swelling volume of foreclosures"; Prince William County housing market's volatility discussed; federal pay freeze, defense contractor layoffs, higher interest rates seen as potential negative factors
("National trends could drag down D.C. area housing market's gains" by Dina ElBoghdady, The Washington Post, 30 Dec 2010)



Review of how lax home mortgage borrowing rules and poor government oversight, despite repeated warnings, worked in vicious cycle with massive housing oversupply, leading to housing bubble, market crash, and ultimately the Great Recession
("Housing Red Flags Ignored", by Elizabeth MacDonald, Fox Business, 2 Feb 2010)



Housing market "glut of inventory", including 9 million vacant homes nationwide, elimination of federal aid measures in early 2010, high unemployment indicate market outlook will remain "extremely clouded"
("Housing Market:  Even More Pain in Store?", Fox News, 25 January 2010)



"Disenchanted with" county politicians who wanted to continue "warp speed" housing growth, voters throw out "four of the five reliably pro-growth" Loudoun supervisors
(Editorial: "A Breather in Loudoun; The Rascals Are Mostly Gone; Now It's Time for Calm," The Washington Post, 12 November 2007, p. A20)



In Loudoun, "local politicians and developers have cuddled up to each other so brazenly that the FBI and federal prosecutors started asking questions"
(Editorial:  "Restoring Sanity in Loudoun; In Tuesday's Elections, Plenty of Rascals To Throw Out", The Washington Post, 1 November 2007, p. A20)



Improvement in housing market partly dependent on "whether builders will slash production, which would reduce the glut of homes"
("Number of Unsold Homes Increases -- Listings Rise 2.5% in 18 Metro Areas; Pending Sales Fall" by James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal, 5 July 2007, p. B8)


ArrowUp(b&w)  Housing downturn largely due to "glut of homes for sale"; housing glut and "surge in mortgage defaults", in turn, largely due to builder "speculation," residential overbuilding, and targeting of uncreditworthy "sub-prime" borrowers as homebuyers
("Ripple Effect -- Economists See Housing Slump Enduring Longer:  Downturn is Expected To Keep Growth Tepid; Retailers Feel the Pinch" by James R. Hagerty, Jonathan Karp, and Mark Whitehouse, Wall Street Journal, 9 June 2007, p. A1)



"Vacant homes for sale cloud economic hopes":  "Data pointing to glut are worst in decades; impact of speculators"
(by Michael Corkery, Wall Street Journal, 5 Feb 2007, p. A1)



"Typical supervisor is beholden more to developers than ... constituents"
("Letter": "Board is Wrong To Defer Developers" by Michael Ragland, Gainesville Times, 15 Sep 2006, p A4)



Negative effects of Prince William, Loudoun housing glut viewed
("Blink and They're Still There - Houses and Condos Are Staying on the Market Longer", by Tomoeh Murakami Tse,  Washington Post, 2 May 2006, p. A1)



Northern Virginians get back "only about 25 cents of every dollar" in taxes sent to Richmond
("Kilgore, Kaine Tax Cut Plans Alarm Locals" by Nicholas F. Benton, Falls Church Press [Online Issue], 24 Mar 2005)




ArrowUp(b&w)  Media reports:


Rural Crescent:  Supervisor Candidates Bob Pugh, Jeanine Lawson, Martha Hendley, Ann Wheeler, and others, as well as Supervisors Mike May and Frank Principi, sign pledge to protect it; candidates and pro-Rural Crescent citizens comment at news conference
("Candidates pledge to protect Rural Crescent:  Eleven make promise to leave area the way it is" by Kipp Hanley, InsideNova.Com, 4 August 2011)



Retrospective on development of Linton Hall Corridor, past & present demographics as seen from perspective of over-100-year-old Benedictine Monastery's nuns, other long-time residents and newcomers
("Va.'s growth plows over country life" by Brigid Schulte, The Washington Post, 7 February 2011, p. A1)



Moody's rating agency awards PW County highest bond rating
("PW earns bond upgrade" by Tara Slate Donaldson, The Gainesville Times, 6 May 2010, pp A1, A11)



Forbes magazine:  Commuters along Linton Hall Rd. in VA have worst commute in the country
("The Daily Grind:  America's Worst Small Towns for Commuters; Those in the country's little spots don't necessarily have easy trips to work" by Jon Bruner, Forbes.com, 9 December 2008)



"Commercial Developers Happier With County Permit Process"
(by Cheryl K. Chumley, News and Messenger, 15 Oct 2008, p. A2)



New Loudoun Board of Supervisors eyes "reasonable growth" focused on greater commercial development, less housing, lower-density "transition area", and preservation of western Loudoun as greenbelt
("Once Again, the Winds of Change:  New Supervisors May Revisit Growth Policy" by Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post, 11 November 2007, p. T1)



Creation of Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park by county-Centex Homes partnership is good example of how "developers, preservationists and government can find ways to work together" to "do something for the public good"
("Bristoe Station history lives as County, Centex, CWPT work outside the box" by James Ivancic, Bull Run Observer, 19 October 2007, pp 3-4)


ArrowUp(b&w)  Prince William, Loudoun likely to oppose Richmond plan to transfer responsibility for road-building to Northern Virginia regional authority
("A Potential Pothole in Va. Roads Deal - Loudoun, Pr. William Balk at Raising Taxes," by Eric M. Weiss and Michael D. Shear, Washington Post, 20 January 2007, p. A1)



Chamber of Commerce hears Stewart discuss keys to keeping county economy strong, including continuing to attract new nusinesses and strengthening transportation, education, public safety; tax rate to be set in April
("Stewart Touts Economic Prowess in 'State of County' Talk to Chamber" by Rose Murphy, Bull Run Observer, 19 January 2007, p. 43)



Big developer sues Loudoun County for rejecting plan to build up to 34,000 housing units around Dulles Airport
("Developer Sues Over Rejection of Housing Proposal," by Amy Gardner, Washington Post, 15 December 2006, p. B9)



Prince William, Loudoun, Montgomery counties move to restrict development, as traffic congestion becomes "among the country's worst"
("3 Counties Attempt To Put Brakes on Growth - Va., Md. Acts Aimed at Land-Use Limits," by Alec MacGillis, Washington Post, 6 December 2006, p. A1)



Congressman Tom Davis (7 Sep 2006) says "Gainesville traffic is worst in the state"
("Davis Acknowledges Gainesville Traffic Is Worst in the State," by Catherine Hubbard, Bull Run Observer, 22 September 2006, pp. 1, 3)




ArrowUp(b&w)  Links on this website to related reports:


Board of County Supervisor Votes and Chairman Candidate, Supervisor Views on Balanced Growth

Media Reports on Brentswood

Status of Major County Transportation Projects




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