The 300 Millionth Citizen

The other day, in my wanderings around the mountains, I was listening to the Jay Marvin radio show, and they were talking about how on that day, the 300 millionth citizen of this country was supposedly born. Of course, this feat has both sides talking. One side has the economic pundits talking about how this will help the economy to grow and thrive, as growth is good for the overall economy. Of course, the other side, largely environmental, was saying that growth isn't necessarily good, as how are we going to have the resources to care for these people? Not only in physical infrastructure, such as roads, schools, etc., but also with water, electricity, heat, and so on.

I think both sides are right. I do believe that growth is good for the overall economy, as non-growth brings about stagnation. At least in our current economic model, and the only one that I am familiar with. I am also talking about slower sustainable growth, not booming economies. Booms always bust, every time.

However, I also understand where the environmentalist and other no or slow growthers are coming from. Our resources are not finite, we do need to be careful in what we use. I do believe that we can accommodate future growth in our population with sound choices that are made now, that look at the future.

For the most part, our current way of life, and our economy is built on instant satisfaction, on how we get the biggest bang for our buck today. This isn't always bad, as we all enjoy getting the lowest price we can on goods and services. However, we need to look at the life cycle costs of what we do. Is paying an extra $1,000 for a super efficient furnace good for the long haul?

We need to look at our development patterns. We need to build mixed use and mixed income communities. We need to build at higher densities. We need to get away from being dependent on the automobile. We also need to build our homes and commercial buildings for the long haul. If we truly look at what it costs to do it right, and amortize it over the life of the structure, the extra cost is minuscule. We need to build homes that don't fall apart in a few years. We need to build homes far more energy efficiently. The technology is there, it can be done, and it doesn't cost a great deal more.

Take for example, my biggest pet peeve, all the turf grass we plant. Do we really need it all? How much of that turf really get used? How much of it is played on, versus how much it gets looked at, whizzing by at 40 mph? This is where developers and the design community need to honestly think about weighing the cheap costs of installing all that turf now, versus the long term maintenance issues of all that turf. Is it really cheaper? I don't think so. Planting shrubs, perennials, or native grasses might cost more now, but it is also more aesthetically pleasing, and costs less to maintain!

These are just a few of the issues. We all make choices everyday that impact the future. We all need to weigh those choices, and think about the long term impacts.

Think about it.