ABSTRACT
This chapter explores one set of reasons that exurbanization becomes a problem for rural governments. Rural local governments throughout the United States (US) are providers of a range of local services. In general, these services are paid for through local property taxes. The final contextual element impacting upon the utilization of land use policy options is the political sociology of rural residents. With regard to the relationship between housing and land use planning in the context of exurbanization, the public sector is largely in a responsive or reactive mode. Zoning, the most common land use regulatory tool, was invented in 1916 as an urban management device, validated by the US Zoning divides land within a governmental jurisdiction into areas, or zones. Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) was developed to manage urban land use problems. Land owners are required to pay property taxes, and in many states the tax is required to reflect the land's full, real market value.
