Dangers of Growth
* This year the city councils of Irvine and Huntington Beach have shown unusual foresight in recognizing World Population Awareness Week (the last week of October). We live in a county that has grown by leaps and bounds in recent decades and is suffering from many of the symptoms of overpopulation. These include traffic congestion, air pollution and loss of agricultural land and wildlife habitat. Exorbitant property values rule out home ownership for most and cause overcrowding in cities like Santa Ana and Garden Grove.
With overcrowding come overburdened social services and high crime rates. There are a dozen species of threatened plants and animals in this county and continuing growth makes it unlikely that they will be saved for long.
It is appropriate that local government bodies are beginning to recognize the dangers of unabated growth. I commend Irvine and Huntington Beach for beginning the process of helping us all to become aware of what continued population growth will mean to us and our children in the coming decades.
DAVID SALAHI
Irvine
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