The Economic Development Strategy Preferences of Community Leaders in Texas

Abstract

The suburb/central city dichotomy has been a conceptual tool used by scholars to differentiate communities in a number of ways, including politics, policy preference, and political ideology. Given the various changes undergone by suburbs and central cities during the past few decades, a renewed investigation into how well this classification actually accounts for differences in the policy preferences of city leaders is beneficial to an overall understanding of urban politics and policy. Using census data and survey results of several types of city leaders in Texas, we examine the ways in which the suburb/central city dichotomy influences the policy preferences of city leaders. Our findings indicate the dichotomy remains a useful conceptual tool for understanding urban policy making particularly with respect to influencing and promoting particular attitudes among city leaders in the important area of economic development.