The following article was written by Gregory Wilcox, webmaster for the Greater Boston Chapter of ZPG. Greg resided in the Boston area for 12 years. Although he has since moved to Asheville, NC, he continues to serve as webmaster. In this article, he gives his perspective on what rapid growth and urban sprawl will mean to Asheville.
If you build them, it will come.
If the N.C. Department of Transportation extends I-26 through downtown Asheville, it will come. If John Huffman puts a speedway in Haywood County, it will come. If Roger Wolff erects a 250-unit mobile home park in the Hoopers Creek community, it will come.
If Trinity Baptist Church expands its ministry to include a larger sanctuary, classroom space, a softball field and additional parking, it will come. If Taylor and Murphy Construction turns what used to be a wooded hillside into the new Hominy Valley Elementary School, it will come. If Reynolds Commerce Center and Cedar Plaza (two commercial projects in Reynolds with a total of 17,280 square feet) open later this year, it will come.
If CP&L buys the 1,700-acre BASF plant in Candler and develops it into an industrial park, it will come. If single-family houses continue to go up at the current rate of 757 per year (not to mention 1049 mobile homes) in Buncombe County, it will come. If a new civic center gets built, it will come. If Leicester Highway is widened again, it will come. If businesses are encouraged to relocate here, it will come.
What is “it”?
“It” is air pollution—more of the same gray haze that is already blanketing our region, causing a record 43 days of bad air here last year.
In the motion picture "Field of Dreams", Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) hears voices telling him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield. The voices say to him, “if you build it, they will come”. When he does, ghosts of the old Chicago White Sox magically appear. It's an engaging, enchanting and timeless movie, which makes you believe in the virtues of times gone by.
Sadly, there is no such magic in the random development currently happening in Buncombe County. While the stated goals may be noble, the inevitable side effects are all too predictable. They include longer commutes, increased congestion, and smog.
As a result, people are forced to spend more time indoors. Asthma attacks and hospital admissions are up. Visibility in the Great Smoky Mountains, a prime tourist drawing card, is shrinking rapidly. And trees are dying on mountaintops all over the region.
The kind of haphazard, unconstrained development currently going on locally is called urban sprawl. As new construction spreads widening ripples over the landscape, travel distances increase. People drive more, and spend more time stuck in traffic.
Elsewhere, many local and regional governments have taken preventive measures. Maryland’s Governor Parris Glendenning has championed the “Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation” initiatives, which push new development toward areas with existing infrastructure, and away from farmland. Portland, Oregon constrains all development to within an “urban growth boundary” of 364 square miles. As a result, Portland is consistently rated one of the most desirable cities in the country. Even the federal government has gotten into the act, with the Clinton-Gore Livability Agenda. This $8.3 billion proposal aims to preserve green spaces, ease traffic congestion, and restore a sense of community.
Another side effect of urban sprawl is population growth. Buncombe is one of the faster growing counties in the state, partly due to industry’s need for more skilled workers. As the population goes up, the traffic density also increases. More people create more demand for more services, and draw more utility power. That last part is key, since 62% of nitrogen oxide comes from point sources like factories and electric utility plants. Nitrogen oxide is the main precursor of ozone, a principal component of smog.
Ironically, at the center of Buncombe County is a textbook example of a well-planned, compact community. The City of Asheville is an eminently walkable place—a near-ideal mix of residential and commercial areas. The downtown area is the jewel in this crown, with its pleasant assortment of shops, theaters, restaurants, and other attractions. Many people in Asheville can easily get where they need to go by bus, bicycle, or on foot. For them, a car is just not the necessity of modern life that we all assume.
But times are changing rapidly. New buildings, roads and bridges are going up everywhere in Buncombe County. And all this random construction is leading inevitably to one thing.
If you build them, it will surely come.