34 replies to this topic

[April]

After reading the above posts, I had to wonder why being against growth was so bad.
Doesn't anyone like to see the green fields in the spring or feel a sense of being in the country, when taking a drive?
And if they think that growth has been handled correctly so far, they haven't got any lung problems or been high up enough to see the pollution that hangs over our city. Do any of you pro-growth people ever fly???
Go to www.sparetheair.com and then tell me about how good growth is.
What do you want? To have to wear a mask whenever you go outside????
That is what I am looking forward to if things get any worse.
Do you really want to raise a child in this pollution so he'll be in my condition some day?????
More growth brings more people, which brings more cars, which brings more pollution! Duh!!!

The bad part about our growth, is we ARE NOT L.A. Because if we were we would get the ocean winds to blow some of the smog out of here.
We do get some winds, but not like L.A. does. This I know because I used to live in L.A. (I lasted one year there) So that means that our growth will make our air worse than L.A.'s!
We will be absolutely choking to death on the smog if we don't come to our senses soon.
With the incidence of lung conditions getting to an alarming rate in the Sacto. Valley, I can not imagine why anyone would want to see more growth here!!!!! Try watching someone who can not breathe because of the smog irritating their lung condition, then ask yourself if you'd like to be next in line for a lung condition yourself. You may just be, if the growth mongers get their way.
And, "No", I don't smoke and never have....I know that is what some will be wanting to ask. But if you live in the Valley long enough you will develope allergies and probably a lung condition, ask any local doctor.
I feel much better when I go to the Bay Area because the ocean winds keeps their smog in check, and blows it right over here.
So we want more growth here to add to it? INSANE!

And I don't think it's cool either, for people who don't live here to get on and start opposing what WE, the residents would like for OUR city, which, WE live in! I think people should keep in mind that those who would make money on the things we oppose, can get on here and stir it up to confuse the issues. Sometimes it is better to just ignore those who would seem to only want to anger people or cause everyone to fight among themselves.
They are very transparent, so it's not hard to know who they are.

So go ahead and call me against growth, just what in the heck is wrong with that? I've been living in the Sacto. area since I was ten years old and remember when there wasn't anything at all in the Arden district.
Over the years I have moved many times to escape the traffic, crime, pollution and run down neighborhoods that have grown into the places none of you want to live in now. And so we want to turn Folsom into one of those places? I don't think so!
Just where in the world has growth been done correctly?
Geeez, I may just want to move there!!! Loomis you say? I'll sure look into it!

Where the heck am I, the Twilight Zone?
I can not believe what I am reading on this board!

[jake]

I'd like to know what you plan on doing to stop people coming to live in the Sacramento Valley...

It's cheaper to live here than the Bay Area! Much cheaper! Until you fix that, people will still come here in droves, smog or not!

[April]

I'd love to, Jake.
People will stop wanting to live here if the air is so polluted they can not breathe, the
traffic is so bad they can't get anywhere in under an hour and the crime is so high, they
don't go out after dark.
Sounds like L.A. doesn't it?
Well, if we just let the growth go on, unlimited, that is what we will have in Folsom. But
it won't be you and me living here, it will be the poor folks who have to stay for one
reason or another. You and I will probably be outta here.
We are going to move if it gets that bad, aren't we?!?
But where to? There are getting to be fewer and fewer places that are considered nice to
live and raise a family. So we may even have a problem.

But I have a question for you......why should we just continue to grow and grow? Is it
because the traffic congestion is so fun? It does give one more time to listen to the radio,
I guess.
Is it because it gives us a warm fuzzy feeling to see hoards of people in the stores, with the
lines ending at the back of the store?
Maybe it's because we could have our own baseball team and get a stadium, like Arco?
The fact is, small communities are well liked and that is the reason most of us moved here.
But when you start to get crazy with more growth, then it changes into what you moved
away from.
If more houses are built, there will certainly be people to come fill them.
So don't build more houses if it will add to the traffic problem, make the air pollution
worse, or raise the crime rate.
What is it about this that is hard to understand?
I know.........some will try to make us feel guilty because we have ours and don't want
others to have theirs. That is not true. So this should make us ponder the growth issue?
That is a very old trick that has been used for ages, to confuse the issues and distract from
the valid points and concerns.
It is usually made by those who stand to gain more profits by growth and do not want to
see their business profits at a stand still.
It's like this, to get more profits you have to have more people...to have more people you
have to attract them. Local people buy in their community more often, so the business's
here naturally want Folsom to grow without end. Every time they see more houses built,
their mouths water over the future profits they will get.
Now don't get me wrong, I do believe in people being able to make profits, but not at the
expense of our air, water, traffic conditions and quality of life. It's easy to be native about
how fast it can be taken away from us.
So don't let some people fool you, more growth will not give us more money to develop
more parks, clubs or anything else.
Why? Because those things ARE NOT guaranteed! That’s a bait that is being offered but
it’s not anything new in sales. I know a sales pitch when I hear one, and this board has
been abundant with them!
Our concerns have been down played and minimized, there have been attempts to make us
feel guilty by being able to live here and most insulting to me is there has been an attempt
to convince us that we are just silly little children, so spoiled, we don't see how good our
city council has been to us and given us so much. Crap, all crap!
We have every right to be VERY CONCERNED with the past actions of our city council
and every right to be living here. We just happened to move here when we did because of
the luck of the draw. And, the fact that we were wise in our choice of a community.
When I moved in Folsom there wasn't enough shopping, and we had to drive to Roseville
to get things. Now before someone says, "Ha! HA! So there you are! You wouldn't have
that new shopping center if there hadn't been growth!" I will say that, none of that growth
has hurt our city so far.
I think the traffic we see is a lot of people driving through Folsom, to get someplace else.
Look at the Folsom-Auburn road. These people are mostly living up in Eldorado Hills,
and driving done here to shop or work. What is needed is more shopping up there for
those folks.
But if that happens, the business owners down here will lose profits, and they can't handle
that.
A real estate agent once told my husband and I, "If you want to live out in the country,
you have to GET out in the country".
By that he meant we can't have every thing, but the business owners and the developers
will sure try to convince us we can. They will paint pretty pictures of how much better it
will be when we have 20,000 more houses built, down play our concerns about air, water
and crime, then insult our intelligence by accusing us of being selfish and not wanting it in
our back yard. Hog Wash!
Don’t listen to it! It’s the same thing you get when you go to buy a car, or a house.....it’s
a sales pitch!
It’s not my or your problem, and we are being told it should be.
If we want to hold on to what we bought into this community for, we better stop listening
to those who would change everything for their benefit, even if it meant ruining this town.
People WILL NOT come even if we don’t build more houses. Think about it.
Would you come here if there were no where for you to live!!!! What would you do,
pitch a tent?
Go back to the very first post on this subject about the wool being pulled over our eyes.
Read on from there, even if you have read it all before......it’s so telling.
I don’t have to defend myself for being anti-growth. I’ve got the EPA on my side!
But those who would build right over you and me, if they had the chance, do have to defend why, and I'm not buying it. I'm here for the long term, if things don't go the way of Citrus Heights or Rocklin. Whew! Have you been there lately? It's bumper to bumper, all the time.

[jake]

April, I understand you comments, but the fact lies that Sacramento is growing, whether we like it or not. It's cheap to live here compared to the Bay Area. That will change eventually, but for now, we have to realize that all this land we see undeveloped - it's going to get developed.

Why? Because there is a demand for it.

I'm not sure you understand supply & demand... right now, as we speak, thousands of people are feleeing the Bay Area & San Jose because companies are moving here and quite frankly, your dollar goes further.

Now I don't argue that more people bring more problems. But until the demand stops for people wanting to live in the Sacramento Valley, we won't stop expanding. That's the way it works. This world is not getting any smaller.

I am more of a proponent of "smart" growth - that is, plan for your growth (not just let the developers build, and worry about sewers & roads later)... if we do, we can avoid being like Los Angeles, which is one giant strip mall if you ask me. We can't avoid the smog, we decided to live in an area of California which naturally retains it. It has more to do with the natural environment than the people who live here. (But more people certainly makes the problem worse)...

[NRB]

I don't know if you have ever noticed this and if you haven't bought a home in the past few years you probablly haven't but...new homes are cheaper than established homes. When we moved to Folsom 3 years ago we couldn't afford to buy a home in Briggs Ranch or some of the other developements that had more established homes with mature landscaping so we bought a very nice, new home in Willow Springs. The reason I bring this up is that the less housing that is available in a desirable community the higher the property values! If we keep building new homes that are generally cheaper than the more established homes it will take longer for the value of our homes to rise and longer to sell. However, when the city reaches build out and the demand outweighs the supply we can expect to see our property values soar! It seems to me that some of the same people that are complaining about low income housing lowering their property values are the same people that scold us "slow growthers" for having ours but not wanting others to have theirs. If they really want to protect their property values then they should be oppossed to excessive growth. Not only does it add to our current problems thus making our city less attractive but it also keeps our property values from reaching their full potential. As always, this is just my opinion!