To the editor:

“Grow,” cry the county commissioners. “Grow,” cry the city commissioners (well, maybe not Mr. Highberger who functions with vision rather than greed). “Grow,” cry the builders and developers, the Realtors, the merchants, the corporate executives, the media bosses, the Chamber of Commerce and many well-meaning residents of this area.

But these folks fail to realize that relentless, unending growth is a death sentence. Every organism has a birth, growth, then death. History has shown this to be true of human beings, cities, nations and empires. But a true advocate of growth can look at a vast expanse of undeveloped countryside or farmland and say, “Gosh, that would look ever so much better if it were full of residential subdivisions, shopping centers or industrial parks.”

Albert I. Decker,

Lawrence