A WONDERFUL PLACE STOLEN

Well, who the heck stole it?

Answers: Initially, the "I've got mine" people. Secondly, the profiteers of technology.

I joined this smallish town 40 years ago. It was cute, friendly, and kind of asleep. It won my heart. The old downtown buttoned itself up at night for the most part. Yet the streets were alive on the weekends, with teens living out the age old ritual of cruising back and forth through the downtown blocks.

It was not difficult to find a little house to rent in town or around the outskirts, perfect for young adults working on figuring out their futures.

The whole region was determined to not become a vast wasteland of ugly suburbs and freeways, which was a good and noble goal. In that spirit, the first move was made by the city to limit growth. The city proposal was challenged in court by the construction industry in 1975, and the issue got national attention. The city eventually won.

In the interim years, the city could not avoid some growth, but it was pretty darn slow. Every new shopping center and housing development had to jump through an insane number of hoops to be completed.

The death spiral for the city in remaining a middle class community began with the computer and telecom revolutions that were going on 90 miles to the south. The newly rich CEO's and programmers set off a sharp rise in the real estate market in their immediate region. Then year, by year, by year, like concentric waves caused by a pebble dropped into a pond, the inflating real estate market crept closer and closer to my city.

Now it is here full blown. If you are middle class and own a home already, you're OK. But if you should sell your home to cash in on the market, you will be forced to move far away from here in order to purchase another home. If you are a renter - bad luck for you. Landlords are taking full advantage of the situation. People who work in local shops can't afford to live in town. Most graduates of our high schools will not be able to buy a home in the town where they were raised. The graceful old homes in my neighborhood are going up for sale in the million dollar range.

So, as the older citizens of town die off, they are being replaced by young professionals with money to burn. The middle class homeowners are frozen in place. The normal tradition of trading up houses within the same town is no longer possible for most. Stay in place or else move to who knows where. No developers bother to build starter homes or average homes. They only build McMansions. The schools have fewer children because young families cannot afford to buy here anymore. The senior citizens who are not homeowners are in a very precarious pickle.

I do realize that times change. But it is sad to see this town have such limits on whom it welcomes now. Yes, the town did avoid endless suburban sprawl and freeways. But now there is no future here for the next generation of middle class people. I think that is an ugly outcome.

There are always warm discussions about what community means. This town is feeling more and more to me like a somewhat exclusive club. The city planners' rallying cry should not have been "Don't do it". Their credo should have been "Do it right". For the benefit of everyone.