| The objective of this research was to identify the characteristics of local planning board members in New Jersey and to determine whether planning board members differed from the general population in terms of these characteristics. The characteristics examined included age, sex, race, education, occupation, employer, family income, marital status, number of dependent children, and housing tenure. The research showed that planning board members differ from the general population in terms of the characteristics examined and are drawn from an elite strata of the population. Planning board members are predominantly white, male, working in the professions or as managers, with median family incomes considerably above the median family income of the general population. The research also revealed that planning board members are long term residents of their municipalities, married, own their homes, and have dependent children at home.;When the characteristics of women on planning boards are compared to male planning board members, there was a significant relationship between sex and seven of the 14 characteristics, as follows: years of education, years in the municipality, years on the planning board, number of dependent children, occupation, family status, and employer. The characteristics of non-whites on planning boards were also examined, and there was a statistical association between race and three characteristics: employer, family status and income.;The research also broke down New Jersey's 567 municipalities into eight predominant types and compared the characteristics of planning board members in each type to the general population and to planning board members in other types of municipalities. The findings indicate that planning board members differ from the general population in each type of municipality in terms of the characteristics surveyed. There is also a significant statistical relationship between planning board members and type of municipality in 11 out of 15 characteristics surveyed. |
