Our community has, or can obtain, the knowledge and tools to control our demographic fate. Growth over the long haul can be managed if we display the political will.
Planning and Prevention are better than Reaction and Cures
Because the impacts of growth are cumulative and largely irreversible, local planning that affects population numbers must anticipate community life fifty years and more in the future, not merely through the next fiscal quarter or election cycle. Community policies and programs, including those dealing with population growth, should be designed to prevent problems whenever possible, rather than focused on correcting problems after they occur.
Economic Growth is Not Dependent on Population Growth
There are many kinds of potential growth in a community, and they need to be distinguished in any discussion about the merits of growth. ASAP supports economic development if it is equitable, environmentally sustainable, and not linked to population growth.
We Need to Level Off at a Sustainable Population
Endless growth is simply not sustainable. We can, however, aim for a sustainable "optimum" population characterized by a size and distribution that maintains and even strengthens the health of our natural and social environments. ASAP is committed to helping Albemarle County (and other neighboring localities) identify that optimal size, then develop policies to reach and maintain the ideal size.
Our Community Is Not an Island
Albemarle County's population problems must be solved in a regional context. Charlottesville and contiguous counties affect, and are affected by, demographic changes in Albemarle County.
Stewardship is our Responsibility
We residents of Central Virginia have an obligation to preserve the natural environment for ourselves, for other life forms, and for future generations.
Affordable Housing is Critical
Under current rapid-growth conditions, the less advantaged cannot afford to live in Albemarle County. Any effort to control growth must include measures to ensure that low- and moderate-income housing is available to those who live in the area.
Diversity is Healthy
We respect and encourage cultural, ethnic, and economic diversity, the social counterparts to biological diversity.
"Smart Growth" is Not Enough
We support the growth-management methods promoted by advocates of "smart growth." These buy time, but ultimately the "smart growth" approach is little more than an accommodation to growth-trying to reduce or postpone its costs by determining where and how growth occurs, not whether it occurs. Slowing local population growth is necessary, but not sufficient. Ultimately, growth must stop.
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