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Our little town on the San Francisco Peninsula was laid out in the very early 1900s. It was largely agricultural and orchards. It was finally incorporated a few years after WW II ended and the huge post-war single family building boom took. The founders wrote that the town should retain its rural character and set a strict two-story height limit for the downtown retail and commercial area. We moved there 30 years after incorporation and the “founding fathers’” vision was strictly maintained. Then the state of CA started butting its nose into local housing plans, forced every town to have a “housing element” in their plans, and the developers all smelled money. Because the state said so, the town threw away the two story height limit around the edge of town and four story condos sprouted like weeds. But Main Street maintained its small town two-story charm. The city had submitted FIVE revisions to its “housing element” to the state and all were rejected. The city finally capitulated before fighting the STATE broke the bank. Immediately, another stinking developer proposed a SEVEN story building with the top two floors dedicated to moderate income housing. Because he was going to put in those two floors in compliance with the “housing element” it had to be approved. I think the building got reduced to five floors, but it’s going to be an enormous eyesore in the center of town — shadows all over, blocking views of the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains to the west.

So eight years ago we bought another place in then-cheap North Idaho. Now another corrupt city council and another stinking developer are finishing a NINETEEN story condo project in downtown Coeur d’Alene that is going to cast long shadows over the town and block views of the iconic Tubbs Hill to the south.

Neither of these two projects were the result of Eminent Domain takings, but the pattern of corrupt city and state governments is the same. Those pols think “we need more housing” and let the developers get away with murder ruining the once bucolic place for long-time residents.

I grew up when the country had “only” 150 million people. With almost 200 million more than that today (!!), these changes were bound to happen. With birth rates way below replacement, maybe the USA won’t hit 300 or 400 million population and these forces will abate. I’m not hopeful. I expect the politicians post-Trump will throw open the borders because “who else will pick our crops?”