By the end of the summer, the new subdivision just up the
road will be completed. Forty new houses line the streets. To my surprise, two
separate tracks bordering the development have been scraped clean of topsoil,
and work on phase 2 has begun. The additional land looks large enough to
The stated Knox County population for 2013 was 444,622, up
from 432,226 in 2010. That equals a .028 growth rate in three years, equivalent
to 12,396 individuals. I’m not sure such a paltry number justifies the
overbuilding in our area.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, I could walk to the store a tenth of
a mile down Ball Camp Pike. During the journey, I might encounter half a dozen
cars. Today, no one walks the s road that is the same size that it was 50-plus
years ago. The fear of being struck by a speeding car keeps people from even
trying. A study from several years back stated that the road carried
approximately 12,000 trips a day. With the addition of so many subdivisions,
the increase in traffic will make getting anywhere all the more difficult. The
Schaad Road extension, once called the new Ball Camp Pike, aimed to remove most
of the traffic. However, the recession choked off funds and the project died.
No new road and three railroad crossings can back up traffic for nearly a mile.
Just imagine the effects of so many more cars entering the main road from the
new developments.
Beautiful views in the area have been wiped out. The fields
where this new subdivision is located offered residents a beautiful landscape
in the morning when a light fog hung just above the ground until the morning
sun steamed it away. Gone is the sweet scent of hay as it lay in wind rows
before being baled. Only the memory of crossing that field in search of a
perfect cedar Christmas tree remains. The losses of these things bring sadness
to all of us who have invested in the community for such a long time.
The most worrisome impact of these developments falls on the
lives of wildlife. Nest are turned under by bulldozers and graders. Wildlife of
all kinds is left with no place to live or to find sources of food. These
creatures move on in an attempt to find new homes. They invade neighborhoods
and wreak havoc on gardens and garbage cans. More and more of them meet a
deadly fate as they try to cross highways and roads to reach new places to
live. Our constant demand for development pushes animals farther into smaller
areas that cannot sustain their lives.
The solution to this problem is simple. Folks can choose to
buy existing houses. Plenty are available, and many are of higher quality than
the new ones that pop up in only a couple of days. The cheaper
prices leave
owners cash for remodeling and adding rooms. Animals then have a chance to live
in a safer environment. It’s come to the point where me must live and let live.
The land is not ours alone.
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