But just outside the subdivisions, on roads that existed before the major route sits many non-cookie cutter homes, sometimes built more than twenty years earlier, still being resided in by it's original tenants. In many cases the new development is the older home's former back yard. These people are displaced, as the traffic increases and the charm of country living fades. Many original residents of towns surrounding metros now complain about the increase in property taxes, sometimes as high as a 40 percent increase, which are necessary to pay for the new infrastructure needed to support it's growth. With increased population the need for new schools, new roads, new services begins to blossom, and consequently the city moves to country to accommodate.
More roads begats more stores and soon cities sprawl into the country.
Soon Bill Middlemanagement sits next to James Country at the PTA, and their hopes and views clash. Both want the best for their children, but they have different versions of what that is. And as the Bills outnumber the Jameses, the country becomes the city. And a certain amount of resentment occurs between the pick-up truck set and BMW set. Maybe we should all follow Portland's lead.