AMERICAN FORK — If Saturday afternoon shopping is any indication of a growing trend, the parking lots of The Meadows in American Fork show the new development is a hit.

To some locals, the collection of big-box retailers, ranging from Wal-Mart to Old Navy, is like a breath of fresh air for convenience. About four years ago, the area just off I-15 on Main Street was nothing but marsh land, and people living in north Utah County had to travel elsewhere for a majority of their shopping.

"I used to have to go to Orem or (Sandy)," said Alpine resident George Veit. "This saves me a lot of time and money. It's a much shorter trip."

The Meadows has become a sprawling community of Kohl's, Target, Pier 1, a Sears Grand and other stores and restaurants and a movie theater, all connected by vast parking lots and sidewalks.

According to Melanie Marsh, chief of American Fork's city staff, the project has been successful in that other commercial developments are drawn to the area because of The Meadows. Costco, for example, opens Aug. 24 across the street from The Meadows in Lehi's city boundaries.

Marsh said the city also expects The Meadows to have a positive financial impact on American Fork residents by easing potential property tax increases over the years.

"The Meadows has provided a positive economic impact to American Fork," Marsh said. "It has created a destination shopping place.

"American Fork believes that it has done a lot of things right with respect to The Meadows development and would absolutely want to have another development like The Meadows in our community."

But some residents aren't sure they want more developments like The Meadows in their city. Though the shopping center is convenient, it also has a downside, some residents say.

"It's good and bad," said Nola Harvey of American Fork. "The good part is we have shopping here. We don't have to go to Orem for everything."

The bad part, Harvey said, is the development has brought more traffic to the area.

"Increased growth never pays for itself," Harvey said.

Other shoppers at The Meadows expressed the same sentiment, that convenience is good but traffic is bad. Some said they don't mind driving farther to deal with less crowding.

"I don't mind driving 15 minutes to shop with less people," said Chris Lee of Provo. Lee said he drives to American Fork or Springville to shop at Wal-Mart because it is not as busy as the Wal-Mart in Orem.

Lee said he appreciates growing cities, but he doesn't like overcrowding and big developments.

"It's kind of like a necessary evil," Lee said. "People need a place to shop."

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com