Here you can find parking garages, lights that are on 24 hours, and the malls. It is the center of sophistication in a somewhat backward state. At Christmas time, you will see the window candles glowing from inside well-kept homes, while polished vehicles decorate the paved driveways. The arrival of the mailman can be timed almost to the second, and overexposure to civilization here can be as maddening as it is in any other city. When it comes to the land, the Valley is struggling.
Human impact is everywhere and is continuing to spread.
This end of the river has surrendered to human desires. Recreational boaters have brought foreign species, such as zebra mussel and duckweed, into the lake, and now these invaders are finding their way upstream. Contamination has forced some of the beaches to close. The comforts of city life offered by the Valley have brought not only more tourists, but more residents. A measure of success in this is all well enough, and perhaps is a requisite to objective thinking, but too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run.