When Town Officials Are Bribed To Approve Spawl

With big money to be made in the nation's strong housing market, developers looking to get new projects approved are coming to local officials with their checkbooks in hand.

In a recent case in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C., the town of Warrenton received $22 million dollars from Centex Homes in exchange for approving the construction of 300 new homes. While Centex positioned the development of clustered homes as "smart growth", the new homes, which will start at $850,000 and up, will likely attract workers from the capitol 40 minutes away.