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Politics and Growth in the Southwest
Rob Melnick
Morrison Institute for Public Policy
Arizona State University
First it was water. Without adequate supplies of it, the southwest would not have grown into the booming area it is today. Thus, the prewar southwest's political landscape was shaped by the ability of politicians and business leaders to control this natural resource.
Next, it was war. World War II transformed most of today's major urban areas in the southwest and west from agricultural and mining centers to manufacturing and distribution powerhouses. This shift had a profound effect on the region's politics.
Today, it's growth.
In 1940, the metropolitan population of the west accounted for less than 9 percent of the total U.S. population; today, it accounts for more than 25 percent. Such rapid expansion has made growth the umbrella for the political issues which command the most attention from the region's politicians and political observers. Urban sprawl, private property rights, spotted owls, mass transit, immigration, education funding and so many other "hot" public policy issues ultimately converge in discussions of the impacts of growth. As a result, growth is the most powerful force affecting the political dynamics of the southwestern region today.
To be sure, growth has been both good and bad for the people who live in this part of the country. While they have enjoyed the many economic benefits which accrue from fast-paced growth, rapid growth and suburbanization of southwestern cities have also led to myriad problems of social and economic isolation (particularly among ethnic minorities); an explosion of "neighborhood associations"; the establishment of "urban growth boundaries"; the creation of the Wise Use movement; and to what historian Carl Abbott calls "quality of life liberals". Each of these groups or circumstances plays a role in determining who gets elected to political office these days and/or who gets enough money to do so.
Whether it's Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque or Denver, both local and state-level politicians must now deal with the politics of growth. Not long ago, the political equation for doing so was relatively simple--the business community favored public policies which support and stimulate growth, so politicians did so as well. Now, it's more complicated.
For one thing, the "old guard" of the business community in the southwest is turning over the reins of power to members of the baby boomer generation, which has a somewhat different perspective on the economic and lifestyle tradeoffs associated with rapid growth; for another, powerful and politically organized anti-growth forces--from NIMBY groups to statewide environmental coalitions--must now be considered a potential factor in defeating (but usually not electing) candidates.
A recent and widely circulated report from the bellwether state of California put a fine point on this issue. "Beyond Sprawl: New Patterns of Growth to Fit the New California" sent a strong message into many political offices in the southwestern and western region. Sponsored by an unusual coalition which included a government conservation agency, a non-profit low income housing organization, an environmental group and the Bank of America, the report makes a case for the "crossroads of change" which California is facing regarding its public policies on growth issues. One road--continued unbridled growth and sprawl-- it suggests, will lead to long-term adverse impacts on the state's environment and its economy; but the alternative path--getting smarter about growth--necessitates a sea-change in the way that politicians think through this complex subject.
As analyst Jeff Gersh and former Governor of Colorado Richard Lamm have observed, growth has put the west and southwest "at risk"; at risk of losing the very things that brought so many people to these areas in the first place--wide open spaces, clear skies and economic opportunity. And so too, politicians in this part of the country are at risk; at risk of making a move that will lose favor with one side of the growth issue or the other.
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