I just think that Arizona got it wrong when they voted no on the growth boundary in 2000. The problem is, growth (i.e. construction) is a main source of jobs. That is a huge reason why college grads do not stay in AZ. There are not enough jobs to keep them here. However, we have been riding on the backs of cheap labor, gas, and horrible public policy in the southwest.
For the past few decades, growth was the band-aid for the poor economy, and has been heavily depended on to support our local and state economy. We are going threw another cycle again, one that we have never seen with other elements affect it. Cost of everything is going up, and the medial income is not. We had too many people getting into the real estate market and investing that made it way un-sustainable. As a society, we expect that we could make so much on a home in 2 years, move further away in a bigger house, buy new things, put them on credit cards and in a few years, you sell your house again and pay it all off. It was false hope, a mirage by the local economy, our politicians, developers, media and citizens in general. Build more roads, more strip malls, drive drive drive! No thought was going into what happens when this boom defilades? What happens when gas does not come down, and the market falls? I know I almost got caught up in this, and every market is hurting from it. Yes, some development is still going on, but in general, things are going to be hurting big time due to this over inflation of the real estate market.
Our neighborhoods are going to suffer too. Especially the master planned communities of the past two decades to the present. They are horrible designs, and anti social. These are the future slums.
There is a reason why a large majority of foreclosures are out on the fringe of the city. Location and false hope of the cheap American dream fueled this for so long that this dream is now crumbling right before us. Its like we, as human beings are forgot how to build cities the past 5 decades, and have thrown out one of the most important elements, the human. Its out of scale, and that is what sprawl brings.
Until we wise up, invest in our cities, and take control of our cities, we are going to get the same. Developers run this state, and they affect the outcomes of voting and how politicians act. It