When we moved here in 1983, there were 14 other houses on the road. The first house was built in 1970. The last in 2016 right next to us on the north side. Now there are 26. When we moved here, a great deal of the town was agriculture fields, as this is the 7th best soil in the world. Pretty much now there are only fields on the far outskirts of town. The interstate highway that bisects the town was pretty quiet in 1983. Now there's constant road noise. And just on Monday, the director of the Senior Center was taking photos of how crowded our class is to try for a larger senior center in the near future.
They built a new larger elementary school in 2003 and currently has 212 students. The town has 3,324 people as of 2023. In 1980 at the last census it had 3,352. So while the population of this town has stayed steady, there are a LOT more houses. In 2006 agriculture took up 3,500 of Hatfield’s 10,750 acres. Only undeveloped land at 5,000 acres was larger. Since we moved here in 1983 up until 2022, there have been 401 homes built on the 7,250 acres that weren't agricultural in 2006.
So even this tiny town has seen a LOT of building, if not more people. And people are no better behaved here than where you are.
But at least you don't have MORE people! Change is inevitable, right, but it's the PACE and SCALE of it that worries me. So yes, even more houses that disrupt the natural environment are caused for concern. Here they love big houses and big cars too.