Survey seeks to find true mood of Barrington area

A community leader's opinion of the local mood often can be driven by the last person he or she talked to.

But representatives of the North Shore-Barrington Association of Realtors say the strength and authority of their recent survey of Barrington-area residents comes from its more scientific basis.

The opinions of 400 adults throughout the seven-village area were surveyed between Nov. 17 and 19, and the results are touted to have a margin of error of only 4.9 percent.

The poll touched on topics from land use and development to the current direction of local leadership.

Howard Handler, government affairs director for the Realtors association, said the results are not intended necessarily to drive development or government policies.

Nevertheless, the accurate measuring of the public's mood can be useful in itself to Realtors, developers and local officials, Handler said.

"It tells us the issues that are perceived to be important," he said. "It provides a greater scientific basis in knowing what the opinion of the community really is."

Key findings are that residents are generally happy about living in the area and that growth and development are not major concerns.

The results concluded that residents believe the pace of residential growth in the area is just about right and commercial growth is about right or even too slow.

Traffic and congestion were identified as the top concern of residents related to growth. In a three-way tie for second place were private property rights, preservation of open space and the cost of housing.

A strong majority of residents felt that now is not a good time to sell their homes, according to the survey.

Slightly more support than opposition was expressed on building three-story residential or commercial developments in downtown Barrington.

As far as how tall the buildings downtown should be permitted to be, 36 percent said three stories, 22 percent said four stories, 19 percent said five stories, 12 percent said six stories and 6 percent said even higher. The rest either didn't know or declined to answer.

The survey also found that the community values historic preservation, but that private property rights related to this were also important.

As for political affiliation, 37 percent identified themselves as Republicans, 21 percent Democrats and 40 percent independents.

While perhaps not as surprising as other findings, the survey did confirm that younger residents tended to be more pro-growth and anti-regulation than older ones.

Handler said Barrington-area leaders have been aware the survey was being conducted but have not yet received the results.

Barrington Village President Karen Darch declined to comment on the potential usefulness of the survey until she's seen the results for herself.