SUBURBAN

January 1967

'EXPLOSION' IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

 

City Splattered Across Landscape

 

STEVENSVILLE, Mich.--A veritable "explosion" of scattered, formless "super-

city,” lacking beauty and defying reason, is relentlessly
The area is developing by an irrational pro-

pieces across the landseape.

splattering its

cess that shows no respect for people (you and your children) or the land,
and city planning authorities predict a fearful future for residents of the
urban belt developing around Lake Michigan if present trends continue.

We are in danger of developing an
unlivable metropolitan complex ne-
cessitating the expenditure of vast
amounts of tax money for rehabilita-
tion. We see this today in St.
Joseph and Benton Harbor, and in too
many other over-built areas across
the country. Must we make the same
mistakes?

In the past, homes and businesses
were clustered along main thprough-
fares and commuter transportation
routes. Today, however, universal
car ownership makes it possible for
people to move about readily, and
builders can erect new homes and
factories where land is cheapest.

By the year 2000, thousands of
new homes and businesses will inun-
date the countryside with sprawling,
chaotic settlement on a scale dwarf-
ing anything seen up to now. The
problem is rooted in weak planning
and rudimentary zoning that offers

meager resistance to undesireable
development.
Residents are becoming farther

removed from space open to leisure-
time activity at the same time lei-
sure is increasing. So, while we
should be enjoying greater relaxa-
tion and outdoor fun, we are in-
creasingly confronted by the night-
mare of vying for roadspace on
crowded highways, for longer periods,
to find scenery and recreation--only
to find the few sites available be-
ing converged upon by thousands
seeking the same respite.

The answer is in providing more

 

parkland-~municipal, state, and fed-
eral--now.

The Grand Mere Association pro-
poses the development of the Grand
Mere area as a state park. It is
scenic, of major scientific value,
readily accessible, and its natural

splendors require no "renewal"--at
least, not yet!
There are people who fear the

park development because of the many
outsiders who will be attracted to
the area. They overlook the fact
that new industry and housing pre-
supposes the presence of "outsiders"
who move in to fill new jobs and
occupy new dwellings.

Individuals who seek commercial
development and other unlimited con-
struction on the theory that an in-
creased assessed valuation will de-
crease taxes, must pause to consider
the fact that any hope of tax relief
would soon be dashed by the rising
needs of a burgeoning pupulation--
new roads, schools, sewers, increas-
ed police and fire protection, to
name a few.

Think today, how much better off
your community is compared to the
crowded slums of the cities--which
were once as beautiful as your com-
munity is today!

Tomorrow we pay for the higher

taxation and the rat race of a
crowded society. Is this what you
want for your children and your

years of retirement?
Think today; tomorrow you pay!

 

Your Interest And Support Is Requested
The Grand Mere Association, P.O. Box 140, Stevensville, Michigan 49127