Agricultural Adaptation to Urbanization in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Abstract

Most agricultural output in the northeastern United States comes from counties that have experienced significant development. A mail survey, with 300 responses, was conducted in southeastern Pennsylvania to determine farmer adaptation to urbanization in this region. Despite development, traditional agriculture still predominates. Changes in land use were examined using multinomial logit models. Results show that changes in population density and farm preservation policies have an influence, as increased population density reduced total land operated and having land in an agricultural security area increased it. Both differential assessment and agricultural security areas increased the cultivation of traditional, land extensive crops.