All said at the risk of sounding like a green meanie but really, where does the growth stop? How many strip malls and apartment complexes do we need? Better yet, where does one need to move to find a quiet country atmosphere that won't disappear in two years?
Alaska comes to mind. How long ago did you move to CO? Did they not have the "No Vacancies" bumper stickers back then? Or the ones that said "Welcome to Colorado. Enjoy your stay. Then GO HOME."? My wife and I considered moving to CO from NJ. Went out this spring. Were quite dissapointed to find the cost of living higher than NJ--lower wages, higher housing costs--the air quality poorer--firplace restrictions? we don't get that here in NJ, and the roads MORE congested--I-25 and I-70 are BAD. I remember when they showed the bumper to bumper traffic INTO the mountains on a SATURDAY morning. Good grief. That's when we decided this was a bad idea. We drove out to Utah for a few days, then came home. We'll take our chances here in NJ. Sussex Co. is still fairly open. The problem for CO, it seems to me, is that when Eastern suburbanites flee the east, they are attracted to CO because it is the most similar to the east--big city, suburbs, city jobs, etc. You don't see too many folks runnning to Billings or Pierre. You want open spaces? Idaho has plenty of open spaces. But how will you make a living? This is what gets CO into trouble. That place is going to get worse and worse.
Hopefully it doesn't stop.
How many strip malls and apartment complexes do we need?
That's up to the individual communities to decide. But I do know in areas like San Francisco, the purposeful refusal to develop more homes and apartments is driving housing costs through the roof. Dr. Sowell has written about this extensively.
Better yet, where does one need to move to find a quiet country atmosphere that won't disappear in two years?
How about Montana?