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Endless Growth or the
End of Growth?

Growth is neither desirable, nor inevitable.

By Andy Kerr

An Ashland developer who served on the Governor's Task Force on Growth said he didn't see any problem with another two million people in Oregon or "however many God wants to send us."

Lord knows we have enough people in Oregon already.

Since most Oregonians say they don't want our state to become another California, the question arises: Then when do we stop growing? Is it sometime before local radio stations are doing 24-hour traffic reports, even on weekends?

Growth is a race one loses the faster one runs. Growth is neither desirable, nor inevitable. A few Oregonians are making a killing on growth, more are making a living on growth, while most Oregonians are paying for growth that is killing the Oregon we love.

We have falsely limited ourselves to two planning choices: sprawl like California or densify like California. (Yes, Los Angeles is more densely populated than Portland.) Actually, we are choosing to do both. Given that 62% of Oregonians believe that growth is undesirable, the option of not growing should be preferred.

Oregon's population is expected to double in four decades. Population is increasing in the Pacific Northwest at twice the national rate and 50% more than global rates. CCCCC County grew PP% last year. At that rate, the population will double in YY years.

Like an adult human, Oregon has matured. Any further physical growth is either fat or cancer.

Oregonians should not be misled into believing that planning is all we must—or can—do to maintain livability. Smart growth is an oxymoron. Just managing growth—in the face of population increase—won't keep Oregon Oregon. We could book our favorite fishing hole or mountaintop through Ticketmaster, but is that the Oregon we want to live in?

Oregon is on its way to becoming a better-planned California; the Willamette Valley another Puget Sound; and Portland a Los Angeles with (maybe) light rail.

Demographically, Ashland, Bend and the coast are becoming the southern-, eastern- and western-most extensions of the Willamette Valley.

At least $33,000 of taxpayer subsidies go to every new house built in Oregon. These are costs that are not paid by either the developer nor the new house owner. New schools, sewers, roads and more are all required to service new development.

For every three new houses you see, you don't see a firefighter, police officer, school teacher, or librarian. This is why taxes are going up and government services are going down.

As the Governor's Task Force on Growth noted, growth exacerbates government revenue problems, it does not relieve them. It would be cheaper for local government to buy up all the undeveloped land within their borders to prevent—rather than subsidize—its development.

In the name of jobs, taxpayers are also subsidizing corporations. These jobs attract new residents—most new Oregonians move here without having a job—which demand new houses, which demand tax subsidies.

Growth causes air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, lost mobility, lost fish and wildlife habitat, higher cost of housing, higher cost of living, more crime, less safety, and loss of community.

Growth increases taxes, increases public debt, and reduces public services. Oregonians are paying to foul our own nest.

Besides the obvious losses to citizens that growth causes, another is the erosion of democracy and freedom. As there are more of us, each vote is worth less. As there are more of us, we are closer together, and therefore need more rules and regulations to maintain a civil society.

Several steps can be taken to limit Oregon's population. Here are some. Let's change tax policies to discourage large families and encourage small ones. Let's directly address poverty. Let's make Oregon government growth-neutral and quit paying people to move here. (Let's spend the money saved making Oregon better, not bigger.). Let's make every pregnancy a wanted pregnancy. Nationally, let's set immigration equal to that of emigration.

Twenty-six years, 57 million less Americans, and one million less Oregonians ago, a Nixon-appointed commission on population noted: "There would be no benefits to a growing population, that the health of our economy does not depend upon it, that the life of the average citizen is not enhanced by it, that democratic representation is diluted by it and that most of our serious problems would be easier to solve if we stopped growing."

While we must plan for growth, let us also—as our first choice—plan not to grow.

Andy Kerr is president of Alternatives to Growth Oregon (www.AgOregon.org, 503/282-0282, PO Box 80334, Portland 97280). He lives in Joseph.