This study examines the effectiveness of growth management policies on influencing future patterns of exurban and suburban development. We initially estimate a spatially explicit model of residential development with parcel data in Sonoma County, California. This estimated model is then used to simulate the effect of urban growth boundaries (UGBs) versus allowing municipal sewer service expansion. The UGB policy decreases the amount of suburban development but is less effective in managing exurban development. The downzoning policy in agricultural and resource areas reduces the amount of exurban development, but only partially due to the prevalence of grandfathered lots in rural areas.

Using an augmented profit function framework designed to account for externalities related to chemical use in agriculture, this paper explains the chemical use choices of farmers in an urban fringe farming environment. It further estimates empirical logit models of reduced insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, and fertilizer usage. Results suggest that farmers who perceive their regulatory environment to be strict, who have experienced right-to-farm conflicts, and who have farms larger in size are more likely to reduce their chemical use over time, vis-à-vis other farmers. The results also suggest the importance of other farm structural and business climate factors in determining chemical use reduction choices.