Letter: Book says town growth is ‘like a parasite’

Carol,
My wife Susan, who was very active in local building, flood control, and politics while we lived in the Orlando area from 1994-2005, just brought me a book that she had gotten when we lived in Florida titled “Better not Bigger” by Eben Fodor, 1999. I scanned through it and found the following in the conclusion:
“If there is one message from this book, it is that further growth is far more likely to be the problem than the solution for today’s communities. Urban growth is not something to be sought after like a prize or a blessing. Instead it is more like a parasite that saps the strength and will of our communities. It continually erodes economic, environmental, and social conditions, and prevents communities from achieving their aspirations. By taking control of growth in your community, you can shift the focus of its energies from how to accommodate more growth to how to become a better place to live. This will enable your community to achieve new heights for livability, sense of community, environmental quality, public services and amenities, participatory democracy, and much more.”
Thought it contained some sage advice for a contained space community such as Wake Forest and the many issues that I see being debated in your newspaper, Nextdoor, and locally. We live on the old Wake Forest Golf Course.
Please feel free to use this as you choose if it adds to the discussion of the local situations.
John and Susan Eberle
Wake Forest
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