When Slow Growth Doesn't Slow Growth

Southern California's Ventura County -- a model of slow growth with a range of growth control limits -- is growing just as fast as it's larger neighbors.

1 minute read

July 26, 2004, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"Ventura County, known for development limits, is adding residents quicker than L.A. and Orange counties... For the last four years, Ventura County has grown faster than Los Angeles and Orange counties, and at about the same brisk pace as California overall.

In 1969, city and county officials adopted the landmark Guidelines for Orderly Development that forced growth into cities and protected the farmland between them. In the 1980s, most cities capped growth at a few hundred dwellings a year. Then during the last decade, county and city voters approved strict growth boundaries around cities.Together, the measures form the most advanced locally imposed system of growth control in the nation, planning experts say."

"It's an elitist strategy. The irony is that the elitists are so numerous that they prompt growth by themselves," says Joel Kotkin.

Thanks to Adam Christian

FULL STORY: Slow-Growth Region Filling Up Fast

Sunday, July 25, 2004 in The Los Angeles Times

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