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written by Randy Bates on March 27, 2007

Development is a bi-product of economic and population growth - not the cause of it. "Sprawling" suburbs are a symptom of that growth, just like crowded roads and schools.

As long as policy analysts in government believe that development is the cause of growth we will continue to get regulations that punish good behavior, such as building homes, work space and shops for people and employers who need it. Meanwhile we reward those who exacerbate the situation by political grandstanding. Our local politicians are failing at every level to do what we developers do every day - plan for the future by making projections from current data.

There are rarely shortages of homes, offices and retail space. We seem to always be short on roads, water, sewer, schools, firehouses and police. The infrastructure we need is the responsibility of local governments who seem to lack the basic skills to provide what they have been charged to provide. They get around this responsibility by blaming these shortages on "greedy" developers. Do you really believe we would have trailers at schools if developers were in charge?

My faith in local governments to plan for growth will be restored when a prominent leader acknowledges what our population is likely to be in 75-100 years and how they would plan to provide for those basic resources. They also need to inform the public that if we deny density we will get more sprawl. I would also like to see a plan for future roadway locations and a Right of Way acquisition plan to make those roads possible.

Until that time, I expect to see more posturing by demagogues and more labels assigned to those of us who actually provide for those in need of basic housing, work environments and places to shop for food and clothing. As for transportation gridlock, why not blame the auto dealerships instead of developers. I think we know the answer - 1 plus 1 does not equal 2.