Urban Sprawl

We live just past the old dividing line between the suburbs and farm land. If you look at a map of the area, you can see where the density of the suburbs stops and the country begins. Our subdivision was started ten years ago and there were others also slated to take off at that time in the area. The growth in Sugar Grove stopped, however, when it was announced that the train from Chicago would reach the town just north of us. Prices for houses (even old, decrepit houses) went through the roof in that town and building ground to a halt in Sugar Grove.

Now, ten years later, Sugar Grove offers one of the best housing values around. The small village is on a steep growth curve and it's surrounded by a ton of far more expensive suburbs, so there's support for new shopping, gas, groceries, etc. They've even sent out a special census to get a handle on the growth. Since we've been here, there's a new Jewel (big grocery store) and they've leveled miles of acreage at the end of our subdivision to start an entirely new one - much bigger!

On the one hand, as a home owner in this area, all I can see is profit. We like the small town feel and we probably won't move unless there are extenuating circumstances, but we could make significant money on this place right now with only a year of occupancy. In another two years, I wouldn't be surprised if the prices of homes in this area got close to doubling.

On the other hand, ever since I first went to school in DeKalb (1/2 hour west of here), I've seen signs on the sides of the road pleading for less urban sprawl. All the growth in the area has changed the lives of the local farmers. Some folks are not that excited about Walmart or KFC showing up in their town but others are happy to take the large sums of money for their tract of land.

Anyhow, depending on how the job situation shakes out, we might feasibly have to move. I'd be sad to have to leave right when this area is about to take off and I might even have a say in how it grows. For now, I love it here and I hope the sprawl takes its time.