To the editor:

The economics of growth are difficult to understand. Therefore, I would like to present an analogy to clarify what can occur. The body grows as we go through life, and so do cities. First, there is good growth that promotes the circulation of blood and nutrients throughout the body.

Small businesses and manufacturing facilities are easily recognized as good growth because they employ people, pay taxes and spend money in the local economy. The people they employ spend their wages in the community, thereby allowing the money to be taxed again, spent again and continually circulated within the body of the city.

The final type of growth I would like to describe is cancer. Cancer proliferates only for the purpose of increasing its own growth. Cancer invades surrounding areas and crowds out existing areas. Cancer metastasizes to new sites. Cancer grows to the exclusion of all other life and only dies with the death of the host. The final stages of cancer can be gruesome.

Cancerous businesses are the ones that just take business and money from the healthy businesses. Cancerous business takes the green blood of life out of the community. Money going to cancerous businesses is only taxed once on the way out of the city. Cancerous businesses do not care about the quality of life, because growth until death is their goal. If Lawrence decides to live with cancer, let’s contain it to our regional shopping center.

Jim Turrentine,

Lawrence