"We need to grow to expand the tax base.  That will lower taxes."

 

Gullible voters are inclined to vote for whoever utters this line, but it's not true.  If there were true, then New York City would be be the cheapest place to live, and a small town like Siler City would be the most expensive.

 

The proponents of the Durham-Orange County Light Rail project (DOLRT) argued that one of its benefits is that it would attract dense urban growth.  They regard growth as good.

 

Well, be careful what you ask for.  Higher density equates to higher costs, more traffic, more pollution, and higher crime.  The only beneficiaries of higher growth are the Urban Growth Machine.

 

Location	Population	Rent for a 2 BR	Traffic
Siler City	8,273 (2014)	$ 725	nil
Chapel Hill*	59,376 (2014)	$ 1260
Durham	251,893 (2014)	$ 1195
Raleigh	439,896 (2014)	$ 1145
St. Louis	317,419 (2014)	$ 1326
Minneapolis	407,207 (2014)	$ 1604
Chicago	2,722,000 (2014)	$ 2119
New York City	8,491,000 (2014)	$ 3510	heavy

 

* - UNC and UNC Healthcare own 35% of the land

 

Related material

• Does Chapel Hill have enough water to support growth?

• UNC and Chapel Hill politics (explains why UNC makes it difficult for Chapel Hill to attract outside companies and their employees)

• Growth and politics in the Triangle Area

• Mouse Utopia Experiment

• Roseanne scene from 1992 [We shouldn't incentivize growth.]

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