My office relocated here from Portland over two decades ago and, given the tax advantage, I followed along. I hate for this to sound like a NIMBY complaint, but patterns of residential development concern me. Acres of duplexes and houses on lots so compressed that the choice buyers have is between a patio or lawn. Add to that increased traffic, crowds in the stores and added wait time for services.
What responsibility do developers have in this expansion? Is increased use of public streets accounted for? Are additional schools and teachers budgeted into projected needs? Are the local utilities — both public and private — factored in where reliability and service are impacted? If those profiting from the mindboggling residential spread around us aren’t also sharing in the cost their civic changes wreak, we’ll be seeing it in our taxes.
