If you are presenting a business plan to a venture capitalist or banker, or talking to a neighborhood group about to lose its local playing field to a road realignment, or just a voter interested in what candidate to support, it makes sense to project from the present into the future before making your decision. In Manassas, for example, only one large parcel remains undeveloped - and it's been known for years that the Smitherwood tract would be developed for housing. Of course, re development of urban sites can still create a political firestorm. In the last 40 years, growth has inundated some counties that once had large rural areas of low density pasture, farmland, and woodlots. Fauquier has positioned itself to block sprawl, while other counties have debated the issue but done little to control growth.
Sprawl affects more than just the fast-growing communities.
Virginia counties with only minimal population growth need to worry about excessive development, if such growth will degrade air or water quality or force a rise in the general tax rate. Cities with a declining population are also affected by suburban sprawl. In some cases, urban and suburban activists may combine efforts to steer development back towards the urban core, where public facilities already exist. In theory at least, planning the timing of new homes can be synchronized with the development of new schools, roads, libraries, parks, etc. A Comprehensive Plan and zoning ordinance, plus judicious use of bonds to accelerate development and regulatory hurdles to delay it, could steer where retail shopping centers and even medical facilities are developed.