[Winona Online Democracy] Dwayne and Paul raise great questions. To Paul's comment on the price of land - he is absolutely right that land prices are going out of sight, in the Twin Cities and elsewhere. But those prices are simply following supply and demand. Many people want to live close to the Cities (choices!) and so home lots around the metropolitan area are in high demand. If the supply is low, prices go up. To a point I've made several times in several ways, if more lots are created on less land (higher density) then we can provide a greater supply of lots, keeping prices lower, and keeping more farmland, forest, or prairie untouched. Part of the problem in the Twin Cities has been the unreasonable squeeze on the supply of sewered lots created by the Metropolitan Council's control of the MUSA line (the line within which urban services can be extended). That is one of the reasons we see growth beyond the seven-county area into the eleven and thirteen "collar" counties, including some in Wisconsin. In Winona there is no intermediate Met Council that controls where urban services go, only the City and the townships doing their orderly annexation dance together.
Dwayne however hits the jackpot with his point No. 5 - population growth generally. The population of the State, nation, and world are growing and there needs to be a place to put these people. Solving this problem directly will affect many, many others. If Dwayne or others have solutions, let's get going on it. Until then, what are we going to do with the people who are here now, who will be here in five years, ten years, and fifty years, until this overarching problem is really solved (will it ever be solved)? I like the teen/adult analogy. But I think that simply saying you don't believe in growth philosophically, while ignoring the thousands and millions of new people that will come every year and every decade, is more a teen view than a realistic adult view. I should have been more precise in my earlier posts: growth will happen, unless and until we stop population growth on the whole. Phil Carlson, Minneapolis _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
