SATURN COMES TO TENNESSEE - CITIZEN PERCEPTIONS OF PROJECT IMPACTS

This study examines the perceptions of citizens in two Tennessee count ies during 1990 and 1991 regarding the impacts of the Saturn Corporati on, one of the most highly sought-after economic development prizes of the 1980s. The results indicate a sizable and growing opinion split b etween residents of the two counties concerning Saturn's impact on emp loyment, local taxes, and services. The findings call into question th e assumptions about the unitary interest in economic growth and sugges t that popular challenges to pro-growth policies may occur more freque ntly in ex-urban communities for many of the same reasons that they ha ve arisen in suburban communities.