A test of the “gangplank syndrome” among recent migrants to the upper great lakes region

Abstract

That newcomers to environmentally attractive rural areas typically oppose local growth and development in order to preserve what they have recently obtained is an idea first popularized more than 20 years ago by research on “exurbanites” who had moved to the distant fringes of the New York City commuting zone. Subsequent research has essentially confirmed this “gangplank syndrome” but, again, only in the context of rural areas which are adjacent to large cities. In spite of this contextually limited demonstration, recent studies of post‐1970 migration to nonmetropolitan areas — even to those rural places well outside the daily commuting range to a large city — frequently assume that newcomers will automatically adopt a last‐one‐in stance. In this paper the universal application of this syndrome is questioned and is found inappropriate. Interview data recently obtained in rapidly growing nonmetropolitan counties of the Upper Great Lakes Region fail to reveal any significant difference between newcomers and oldtimers in attitudes toward continued growth. The vast majority of both groups favors no limitation of the current growth.

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