Bear and cougar sightings are escalating and many animals have disappeared as people encroach into their habitat. Prairie dog die offs in Pueblo West caused by an epidemic of bubonic plague among western rodents is a symptom of growth as well. As people push into new areas, they change the natural balance and expose themselves to new diseases. Hanta virus outbreaks are another symptom. These problems water, pollution, disease are the factors that speak against unrestrained growth, but there is a flip side.
Growth is also necessary to our economy.
People need places to live, work, shop and go to school. It is here that compromise has to come in. Many Americans have taken for granted that they will be able to build the houses they want where they want them. A few weeks ago a woman was quoted in a major Colorado newspaper, saying she was all for controlling urban sprawl, but she still wanted her little piece of paradise. For her, controlling growth was someone else s problem.