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1/5 of Grand Rapids Metro residents live in "exurbs"


GRDadof3

Exurbs a good thing or bad thing?  

59 members have voted

  1. 1. Is the fact that 1/5 of Grand Rapids MSA residents live in "exurbs" a good thing or a bad thing?

    • Good thing - people should live where they want to live
      11
    • Bad thing - "sprawl" is a real issue and a problem
      38
    • Good or bad for other reasons
      6
    • Brookings' study is inaccurate - (describe why)
      4
    • Other
      0


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Why are you comparing the growth of the exurban areas in surrounding counties vs. the county growth? That's not at all what is being discussed in the study. They are comparing the exurban growth statistics with that of the MAIN urban area that they surround (ie Grand Rapids).
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You talk in circles francishsu. The title of the study is "Finding Exurbia". They're looking at all these conventional definitions of "exurban", and trying to identify exactly what exurbia is. They can then use that as a baseline for other studies.

If I understand your point of view, somewhere out in the country between Dorr and Allegan, it's not growing at all, so that should be counted as exurbia? Huh? And settle down, no one here mentioned annexing Wyoming. :rolleyes: BTW: how can Wyoming possibly be "built out" by 2010? Or ever?

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If I understand your point of view, somewhere out in the country between Dorr and Allegan, it's not growing at all, so that should be counted as exurbia? Huh? And settle down, no one here mentioned annexing Wyoming. :rolleyes: BTW: how can Wyoming possibly be "built out" by 2010? Or ever?
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"Built out" means "no more vacant greenfields to build on". They are almost there now. Wyoming could very easily be built out by 2010 or 2015.

The problem I have with these kinds of studies is that it attempts to simplify a fantastically complicated topic. It seems to me that the movement of people in and around a city is pretty much chaos, and no matter how you "study" it, you will leave stuff out.

For example, how can you define an "exurb"? In my mind, Coopersville is its own small town. It has a traditional downtown that has been there for a long time, where an "exurb" brings to mind shiny plastic subdivisions twenty miles from a major city, that only exist because of that major city. Coopersville would be there regardless of GR. Sure it might be smaller, but it would still be there. I also don't consider a large part of, say, Courtland Township as "exurban" because its mostly rural.

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