According to a recent report, sprawl nationwide has gobbled up a million and a half acres of farmland each year since 1960 - a total amount roughly the size of the entire State of Utah. And some scientists believe there may be a connection between the unseasonably warm recent winters on the East Coast and the spread of sprawl. As governor, I spend a lot of time in a car going from one part of the state to another. Spending the past five years seeing New Jersey roll by has given me a sense of urgency about our future - an urgency that I know many of you share about your communities. As I pointed out, that article was written in 1933, when New Jersey's population was half the size it is today.
Every state suffers when it develops haphazardly.
Sprawl eats up open space. In state after state, sprawl creates traffic jams that boggle the mind and pollute the air. On the one hand, we know that we can't sustain the pace of development our nation has experienced in the past few decades. On the other hand, we have to accommodate a growing economy and a growing population, which will reach an estimated 400 million or higher in the next 50 years. Over the next three days, you will tackle the challenge from a number of perspectives - that of developers and lenders, of public officials and private citizens, of business leaders and environmentalists.