An overwhelming majority of Americans in urban, suburban and rural communities believe that investing in infrastructure will improve the U.S. economy, according to a new poll released by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
While infrastructure needs differ in different parts of the country, the new survey shows that adults strongly support modernizing U.S. infrastructure and believe that investments will create jobs and improve their quality of life.
“The findings underscore the fact that infrastructure connects rural and urban America – both literally and physically,” said AEM president Dennis Slater. “America’s infrastructure was once the envy of the world, but after years of underinvestment, our infrastructure and connectivity between rural and urban America have deteriorated considerably. This is one of the areas rural and urban Americans agree on today – that we must modernize and rebuild our infrastructure to reclaim the infrastructure advantage we once had.”
The national poll identified a number of key findings, including:
- An overwhelming majority (89 percent) of all adults believe that investments in infrastructure will strengthen the U.S. economy, including 86 percent of urban and 89 percent of rural Americans.
- More than eight out of every 10 adults (82 percent) agree that investments in infrastructure will increase the number of jobs in their communities, with 84 percent of suburban, 82 percent of urban and 80 percent of rural Americans sharing this belief.
- Americans across the country agree that investments in infrastructure will improve their quality of life (81 percent). This sentiment is equally strong in suburbs or towns (82 percent), cities (80 percent) and rural America (79 percent).