Balancing Sprawl and Farmland

About 10,000 people a year will added to Stanislaus County’s population through at least 2050.

Under the circumstances, many have wondered what will become of prime agricultural land.

“You’re already watching significant erosion of ag land,” warned Mike McCoy, co-director of the Information Center for the Environment at the University of California at Davis.

There’s the added pressure on already strained water supplies.

The Valley Futures Project, sponsored by the Great Valley Center, held a local competition encouraging architects to devise ways to promote growth without compromising the county’s agriculture and water resources.

One of the more creative suggestions defies conventional thinking: elevated cities supported by spiraling steps reaching far into the sky. Another more conventional solution: a network of highly dense cities strung out along Highway 99 soaring hundreds of stories high and surrounded by preserved farmland.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at October 29, 2004 04:11 PM | TrackBack