There is a growing bipartisan consensus in the General Assembly that Pennsylvania needs to grow more sensibly. For example, House Majority Whip Donald Snyder , R-Lehigh County, believes that curbing suburban sprawl is a top priority in the current legislative sesssion. State Sen. Joseph Conti, R-Bucks County, and others are promoting bond issues to buy farmland and open space, and carry out 21st Century Environmental Commission recommendations. Representatives Robert Freeman of Northampton, Michael Sturla of Lancaster, and Kathy Manderino of Philadelphia are leading Democrats who want Pennsylvania to grow more wisely. Rep. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, has introduced a downtown location law requiring state agencies to locate their offices in traditional downtowns.
Agriculture is Pennsylvania's largest industry.
Nearly all of Pennsylvania's best farmland is located in the southeast, where nearly half of Pennsylvania's residents live on just 15 percent of the state's land area. Southeastern Pennsylvania has a population density greater than Germany and Japan. While it could be argued that low quality farmland elsewhere in Pennsylvania is expendable for development, it is the high quality farmland in the southeast, unfortunately, that is the most endangered. With the global population expected to rise from 6 billion in the year 2000 to 10 billion within 50 years, it is unconscionable to needlessly squander some of the world's best farmland at a time when Pennsylvania is actually losing population. The Pennsylvania Homebuilders' Association, like most of us, prefers the system they know to a system they have not previously experienced.