Business growth means more jobs, better wages and a higher standard of living.
Personal growth implies maturation of both mind and body.
And while we abandon our urban centers, we are simultaneously making huge and wasteful investments to expand infrastructure serving an increasingly diluted population. But lost in the debate is the plight of the urban core, and lost is the impact that sprawl has on an entire region's economic livelihood, whose very foundation is grounded in urban downtowns. Traditionally, sprawl moved people and homes to suburban or rural areas. But with greater frequency, jobs are moving as well, and with it the economic machine that drives the larger metropolitan vehicle. New subdivisions represent significant economic activity in and of themselves, and often are followed quickly by commercial growth in bedroom communities.