Tiebout and Charlottesville's Taboo Population Growth

   When we talked about Tiebout's "seventh assumption" in class, I was skeptical on how a community could actively limit growth, what I have found out however, is that my own city is try to do just that! To paraphrase Tiebout, communities above the optimal site try to raise average costs to keep population levels down to ensure that each citizen's needs are met and the resources are used at an efficient level. When Charlottesville came in at number 1 on theYahoo Real Estate and Sperling's  "Best Places" list in 2011, it helped spark a growth in population that was at the same time anticipated and unwelcome.

  In a 2013 forum held by Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population (ASAP), realtor Jim Duncan advised the attendees, "'we don't want to restrict growth, and I think saying 'no growth is absurd''... but 'saying 'unbridled growth' is equally absurd."' His opinions mirrored the conclusion that  ASAP reached which was that the combined Charlottesville-Albemarle "community should not grow from its current population of about 145,000 past the 165,000 mark." In order to quell this growth, the following solutions were proposed: evaluating development proposals and raising rent and property values. However, two years later, according to the 2015 census, the total population of Charlottesville is 152,300 which is around a 5% population increase, meaning the Charlottesville-Albemarle community is getting closer and closer to the proposed cap, and residents can already see the detrimental effects of this growth in terms of environmental and infrastructure problems. The Daily Progress made a good point in this 2015 article when the president of ASAP was quoted saying, "there is no indiction that the free market encourages neither treating everyone equally nor the conservation of scare resources... all of us can see the value of a free market up to a point. If we talk about how growth is good, it may make us feel good but it does nothing to assure the protection of the environment or sustainability."One area that is being seriously affected is schools, there are now 39 "portable buildings," essentially trailers at county schools which have been shown to be isolating and time-wasting. This will prompt a proposed budget increase that may manifest itself in taxes, prompting residents to think critically about the education their children are receiving and decide if living in this community is worth it. It remains to be seen how we will grow over the years and whether or not it is really possible to slow down or stop the population growth.