Most of those people moved to the suburbs or beyond, to other parts of Ohio or to other states. Census reports show that smaller families are buying bigger houses with more bedrooms, more bathrooms, bigger kitchens and bigger yards. Nationwide, land is being consumed for development at an exceptional rate. The U.S. population increased 47 percent between 1960 and 1990, while the country's area of developed land rose 107 percent. A recent study by Loyola University researchers in Chicago shows that rural regions gained 2.6 million residents from April 1990 to July 1995.
Growth often is greeted as a sign of vitality and prosperity.
But the gleaming glass and steel of new buildings can mask some costly consequences. One less-obvious result is a slow squeeze of the state's biggest industry. If lumped together, the annual loss would amount to a field almost the size of Columbus. At the Statehouse and other top offices, the alarms are being heard. Gov. George V. Voinovich last month announced that he would appoint a 21-member task force to study ways to preserve farmland and sustain economic growth.