The good and bad of growth

The evidence keeps mounting that Utah's economy is chugging along at a rapid pace. Not only are the state's tax coffers once again bulging at the seams, but the housing market is soaring. Census figures released this week rank Utah third in the nation in housing construction for the year ending July 1, 2004, behind only Nevada and Arizona.

This can be viewed as both good and bad. A healthy construction market means more jobs and opportunities. It also means, for the most part, that Utah is attracting growth and that people here are thriving enough to afford new houses. On the other side, however, it also could mean that the state is getting caught in the nationwide real estate boom that some experts are calling a bubble.

This already has struck Nevada and Arizona, sending average home prices there to astronomical heights. That sort of boom is fueled in large part by speculators who have little interest in the long-term health of a community, as opposed to most traditional homebuyers. It leads to a host of collateral problems. In Phoenix, for example, teachers, firefighters and other service personnel are being forced into distant suburbs because of rising rents and purchase prices. That means long commutes. It also means difficulty attracting people to those jobs. Likewise, all low-income people and the homeless have less of a chance to find decent housing anywhere.

Utah's housing hasn't yet gotten caught in a similar jet stream of inflation, but the median price of a home in Salt Lake County did jump by 9.6 percent during the past year, which is unusually strong. Also significant is the fact that Utah's population growth, while impressive, is not quite as strong as its growth in new housing. A lot of people are building second homes. Or perhaps there are speculators here, too.

But the biggest drawback to rapid growth is that it tends to catch local governments off guard. If they don't have intelligent planning policies in place, they quickly could see prime open space disappear forever as concrete and asphalt spread like weeds.

City councils and planning commissioners should take time now to promote walkable communities and to set aside land for parks and recreation. Despite the need for tax revenue, they should not approach rapid growth like a starving person at a buffet table.

Utah's history is one of steady growth. The larger the state's population becomes, the quicker the pace of that growth also becomes. But, generally speaking, a community has only one chance to develop itself the right way.