Since 1996, a total of 14 California counties have adopted growth controls through popular votes or local government actions. This November, voters in San Diego County will decide whether to impose controls in an effort to halt so-called "urban sprawl."

Advocates of the controls use Portland, Oregon, as a model. There, an "urban growth boundary" has been in effect since 1979 -- discouraging and prohibiting growth outside its boundary. Critics say it has had negative and unintended consequences.

• Since 1990, land prices have doubled and the contained area is described as "bursting at the seams."

• As occurred in San Francisco, Portland's inner-city is experiencing gentrification -- while the suburbs are becoming increasingly exclusive.

• Higher-income households are replacing lower-income ones.

• To escape the higher prices caused by the controls, many Portland residents are moving across the Columbia River to Clark County in Washington state -- which grew by 33 percent between 1990 and 1997.

Businesses also are looking elsewhere. Limiting the supply of land for residential development has pushed Nike and high-tech firms in the region to consider expansion in places like Austin, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.

Source: Jim Christie, "Do Local Growth Controls Work?" Investor's Business Daily, October 26, 1998.