It provides a unique opportunity to watch the ebb and flow of different issues, variation between urban and rural places, and changes in opinions. When asked to speak about policies and programs that matter most to rural Westerners, I could think of no better starting point than Headwaters News. The following is a synthesis of stories I selected from Headwaters since January 1, 2000. They are about change, conflict, and occasionally, about peace. Growth management, affordable housing, and farmland preservation are important policy issues for state and local policy makers.
Huge development divides Arizona town.
El Mirage, Ariz., is a village near Phoenix with a current population of about 5,700 and a huge development that will soon push the number of residents to about 40,000. The conflict has prompted an attempt to recall the mayor and five of seven council members. Jan. 10 Residents, experts call Bozeman growth plans shortsighted. The Bozeman, Mont., City Council is on the verge of banning big-box stores and enacting a slate of Smart Growth initiatives, but the initial public reaction is to slow down and reconsider. When a judge ordered Bluffdale, Utah, to write a plan that incorporates affordable housing, city planners relegated those lesser homes to an area surrounded by gravel pits and the Utah state prison.