Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Editorial: "We must manage future growth"

The headline's encouraging, and something of a departure from the paper's historical role as pom-pom girl for development. Perhaps the Courier editor can be forgiven for once again parroting the meme that we are simply doomed to dealing with more and more people showing up here -- the idea is common coin of the realm and has been for ages. But I have to wonder whether it would be if everyone wasn't constantly parroting it.

Any chance we'll ever see a real think piece on this in the paper? After all, it's plain physical fact that every patch of ground has a certain absolute carrying capacity of humans, which when exceeded degrades the environment. That's when you see people voting the other way with their feet. Like the people of New Orleans voted with their feet. Managing growth with a commitment to sustainability is the concept that's missing in action here.

Prescott residents are growing less patient with the idea that every hill and vale needs a new McMansion. In that context this encouraging headline reads more like a holding action.


PS: Following up on the editor's standard gratuitous reference to pop culture, I saw Harry Lorayne at a company picnic in the late '60s. He's also a card trickster. Just sayin'.

3 comments:

leftturnclyde said...

I wonder if all these folks that are moving here will want to live here in 20 years......

Steven Ayres said...

You raise the serious question of what happens when people vote with their feet a different way. Who cleans up when the party's over?

leftturnclyde said...

whoever lives there ...