Today's posts come courtesy of Aquafornia, who alerted me to a story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal describing the plans of developer Jim Rhodes to construct as many as 305,000 homes in the Kingman, AZ, area. Yes, that number is correct.
In previous posts I had commented about 60,000 homes being planned for the Kingman area. But 305,000! That might make Kingman one of the larger metropolitan areas in the western USA! Andy Devine, Kingman's most famous celebrity, would roll over in his grave. Andy Devine Boulevard would become an 10-lane expressway. Dairy Queens would multiply like rabbits.
Where would all these people come from? Coastal areas during sea level rise? What would they do? Why would they want to come?
And in a related story, also from Aquafornia, promises that those of us in the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and the Great Lakes (but not eastern Nevada) will sleep more restfully tonight. Why? Because the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has announced that it doesn't want water from those places. Spokesman Scott Huntley assuaged all our fears in a recent article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The accompanying illustration, by Anton, is from the article.
I'll sleep more easily tonight, knowing that come tomorrow, the mighty Columbia River will be still be thundering out to the Pacific Ocean (unless our Canadian friends decide to dam it at the border).
Imagine - all that water wasted, when it could be contributing to Kingman's bid to become a major metropolitan area.
Wonder if SNWA has heard of NAWAPA?
"No policy without a calamity" -- Dutch proverb
I doubt that this number of homes will be built in Kingman anytime soon. There is no active economy to support it. As 'charming' as Kingman is, I doubt that it will be in the same class as Flagstaff, Prescott or Sedona. Presently, Real Estate in Mohave county is depressed (same as elsewhere). The growth of this area is driven by the new Hoover Dam highway bypass project. Real Estate is cheap here as compared to metropolitan Las Vegas. Kingman is 70 miles from Hoover Dam. It's a tough commute. Hoover Dam is another 17 miles from downtown Vegas. I'd consider that a really tough commute! We all hear stories about people in California commuting several hours a day... I can not honestly say that Kingman would be a place that would be a bedroom community for Vegas - its just too far and gas is too expensive. However, it seems that some people do not make good decisions for making the right choice (considering the housing market these days).
Posted by: DW | Wednesday, 30 January 2008 at 07:11 PM