These new projects started because of the growing Austin area and growing metropolitan areas nation wide. The population of the United States has more than doubled since 1940 and is growing by about 2.5 million people each year. The population of Austin has grown 20.4% in the last decade and an average of 1% in urban areas nationwide. It is important to note that there was a slow in population growth over the past decade due to the tumultuous economy, but overall this is insignificant.
Now, why is the United States growing so fast? Well the US census in 2000 shows that there is a baby born every 11 seconds. Forty percent of these babies are unintentional. Most of these unintentional births are from the 20 and above age-group, but teen pregnancy is the most publicized. This is a video of a famous "youtuber" who gained his fame from his entertaining rants on popular subjects. He talks about how teen pregnancy has been glorified and is disappointed in the invasive nature of the MTV show 16 and Pregnant. Please excuse the language. Skip to 0:24.
Other reasons the population has sky rocketed is due to the fact that food is easier to find and buy. With modern convinces like fast-food restaurants and all-in-one grocers like Wal-Mart and Target, nowadays it costs less for each person to eat. Also, medical and healthcare advances have helped raise the average life expectancy through vaccines, medications, and procedures.
If the United States metropolitan areas continue to grow at this current rate, there could be large consequences. We have witnessed the short-term effects of this population boom in the record high in college applications, traffic, and the never-ending construction on new apartments. However, in the long-term overpopulation becomes even more detrimental to the United States. A main worry is that by the currently projected population, by 2030 the United States may no longer be able to export food because of the needs of the American citizens. Also, the current American energy use greatly exceeds its proper share, which adds to the energy crisis globally. Lastly, as the cities of America grow, more and more grasslands are being run over and morphed concrete jungles. In the mean time, Austin and its surrounding ares have been named one of the top-ten "Boomtowns"at just under 3.5% growth last year.
_________________________________________________________________________________
For more information on growing cities and on the countryside:
For more information on Austin area growth:
When I saw this blog post, I immediately related this to the horrible traffic condition,which is a result of urbanization and economic development, in most cities in China. The sky rocketed population growth slows down due the birth control law(one family can only have one children). There are more roads have been built. But,in cities, the traffic problem exasperated as time goes. China has experience a tremendous economic growth in the past 20 years.This improvement, which increases the average family incomes and provides lots of inexpensive cars, allows many middle class to have their own cars. And for rich people, one family can even buy more than one car despite the huge cost (cars cost more in China because of tariff). Other factors that contribute to in crease of population are due to the urbanization of people in rural areas. Every year, there are thousands of young people who move to cities for better opportunities and higher living standard. The average income of a person in city can almost 4 times more than that of in rural areas.
ReplyDeleteThe over-population in big cities is hard to resolve in a short amount of time, because it will take years in developing rural areas, and making those area attractive for living and investing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYour leaps from traffic to overpopulation to teen pregnancy are rather big ones that don't all seem fully founded on facts. Pregnant teens, for example, aren't necessarily able to buy cars that clog our roadways. It's not only that we are growing, but how we are growing, and what choices we've made along the way. Isn't our (the US's and even more so Texas's) dependency on the car as a society part of the problem? Aren't our cities designed for cars giving rise to this pervasive problem of traffic congestion? In the case of 360, it has always seemed to mea road with a real identity crisis: a "country road" that has become a highway. It's not likely that it would ever be rebuilt as a proper highway because of the demographics of the people who live around it...
ReplyDelete