For Growth, is one of the most ambitious in the country, according to Henry Richmond, a nationally-recognized land use authority from Oregon who will be the featured speaker on March 12, when the project is formally introduced at the Park Place Hotel. Keith Charters, the retired restaurant owner hired by the Chamber to oversee the project, says the only response to a torrent of unchecked development is a genuinely intelligent response. Traverse City is now an influential regional center of information age industries. Jobs are being generated in record numbers, causing soaring population increases in nearly every township and village within 40 miles. If current trends hold, by 2020 the population of the five-county area surrounding Traverse City will reach 190,000, a 41 percent increase from today.
Most residents are of two minds about the growth.
A century after the natural frontier was settled, a new economic frontier based on banking, construction, education, energy development, medical care, professional services, telecommunications, and transportation is providing welcome career opportunities. For several years, addressing development within the context of sparing the land and small communities has been the most vexing issue facing the region. For Growth truly unique is its pedigree. Businessmen turned to the region's leading government, educational, and environmental organizations for help in formulating the project. And Mr. Charters, a member of the Natural Resources Commission who was appointed by Governor John Engler has bedrock conservative political credentials.