Despite the plans for West Creek, much of the western part of the metropolitan region is expected to remain rural until at least 2023. As a result, the region is poised for more sprawling development, long commutes and, according to long-range planners, serious traffic congestion in certain areas around West Creek. Virginia allows each locality to plan for its own growth even if those plans make little sense together. In the West Creek area, only Henrico and Chesterfield are preparing for suburban-scale residential development. The other counties, with less capacity to provide water and sewer service, are limiting much of their growth to one home for every five or 10 acres.
Every jurisdiction is out there competing for tax base.
We aren't growing in an efficient pattern because of it. The number of people living approximately 10 miles from Capital One's site in West Creek is expected to reach nearly 290,000 by 2023, according to 1999 estimates of the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission. That would represent an increase of about 64,000 people, or 28 percent, from 1998. By comparison, the population of the metro Richmond region, also including New Kent and Charles City counties, is expected to grow by 35 percent, to more than 1 million. Richmond's population is expected to drop by 1 percent.