To expand, or not to expand – that is the question, or is it?

When contemplating growth, expansion is assumed. Adding more people to the Denver Metro Region has inevitably led to a greater amount of land experiencing urban development. But is this the best way for the Region to grow? Perhaps communities should be asking HOW we can grow so as to minimize costs and maintain Colorado’s exquisite quality of life.

Studies and experience have shown that growth should be directed inward to minimize both economic and environmental costs. Compact growth curtails costs by facilitating a more efficient use of resources. Services and public infrastructure in higher population density areas can be maintained and provided at lower costs due to the close proximity of residents, businesses, and retail shops as well as transit locations. Traffic congestion is not exacerbated and air and water quality are better.

Sprawl development, on the other hand presents significant increased costs as compared to compact growth. When development is spread out, traffic congestion worsens along with air and water quality. The increased expansion of public infrastructure, and especially roads, presents significant expenditures. Since expansion presents many more negative implications regarding increased costs for public infrastructure and environmental degradation, the question is not simply to expand, or not to expand but rather –

Who pays?

• Whose responsibility is it to pay for the additional costs of providing public infrastructure to far flung developments?
• Are proper price indicators in place to adequately reflect the costs of sprawl?
• Should sprawl development be subsidized by externalizing the costs and leaving the responsibility of providing public infrastructure to local, regional, and state organizations?

In the current debate of whether there should be an expansion of the Denver Metro Region’s UGB/A – the question of who pays cannot be ignored. Any development that represents sprawl must take into account all the costs involved and incorporate these costs into the market price of the development. By requiring a full consideration of all costs involved with a proposed development, a market based approach to growth can be achieved. This market based approach must reflect the true cost of development, however, and  public input should be welcomed and encouraged in the process.