When the machines stopped it was bad for business. But it was great for the county and for planet Earth!

Hopefully the remaining scenic beauty will live untouched for a long time now !

Richard, as michael & you are experiencing so are we...we have a lot of farm acreage that is going into land trusts which preserve the land for generations...it is so important to do.

New developments are back on the move in my area.  A big new one just launched and builders who had put on the skids before are pulling out plans and building again.

Yes it is a trade off.  It is good for the nation to have less new developments built to keep the inventory down for the housing market to continue to slowly recover.

Richard, it is so true. Land is such a precious commodity, we do need a place to live, but we do need open space too. A real conundrum!

Richard, I would guess most builders and Realtors are pro-development...but when you have standing inventory that really should signal that the need for additional housing is not in every-ones best interest.

Richard....our new construction is selling.....we have 5 subdivisions at this point and I'm diligently looking for another one.....or two......in our area, every subdivision has open space.....that's acreage that is preserved and has walking trails and is a buffer from other developed areas....it's pretty and a great way to preserve land and develop at the same time.....we have a market here for new homes, especially age restricted.....there are alot of boomers wanting to scale down and physically and financially.....and they're deserving of new.

I Love to see High Rise Condo's.  It saves a lot on Mother Nature in many ways!

Here, they bulldoze beautiful older buildings to put up new condos and office buildings.  And once it's gone, it's gone, whether it's the natural landscape or our history.

I was happy to see the continuing expansion into the Cascade foot hills come to a halt. That's a play ground for many. There is plenty of urban renewal needed and, if necessary the land owners should who hold that property should be encouraged to see the light.

Richard, I too am relieved to see the clear cutting and bulldozing come to a halt.  We need to step back from our destructive ways and learn to live with and in what already exists.

Hi Richard!
Sacramento use to be surrounded by rice fields.  They were all across the Sacramento or American Rivers and were a wonderful, albeit large "green belt".  As will all things, times change.  The rice fields have given way to residential and commercial development.  I miss the rice fields...they are really very pretty when they are green.

Richard.....are you serious??? no wonder the builders all folded.....here that's a $650k home now....we just closed on one adn the builder cried because he didn't make $150k profit.....it was a $850k home...I'm not moving there, but you should move here!!!!

Richard - The endangered species now seems to be Real Estate brokers. Perhaps the EPA should look into this. I mean to tell you, I have seen the unbridled carnage of this upcoming endangered species. "Fortunately I have all my feathers numbered for just such occasions"...Foghorn Leghorn

Here's hoping the machines rev-up soon

We are beginning to hear the rumble of machinery as some of these stalled development deals are being revived.  Progress will continue.

Richard - We saw the same scenario here too in Los Angeles & Ventura counties.  However, right now, there is almost no new constuction.  This is a good thing too.

Richard...leave it to you to make a photo of earth movers "art" by waiting for gorgeous clouds to be in the background...

"But with progress, there is always an associated loss."

Especially when the growth is as rapid and often frenzied as was the case in many places. It's not all that bad to pause though I am sure this is more of a pause than any of us expected!

Richard, Good post.  Builders who come in and raze everything makes me shutter, not even one tree left standing....  It is good when some people designate their land to land trusts. To me that helps keep the balance.   And as Pat pointed out old historical buildings, that is sad to see.

As Joni Mitchell sang, "they've paved paradise and put up a parking lot with a pink hotel, a boutique
and a swinging hot spot"

Gloria