We are about to be part of one of the greatest boondoggles of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  The developable land that the Knik Arm Bridge (KAB) opens up is on a colossal scale, even for Alaskan developers.  Every city in North America fantasizes about that kind of space, and we are poised to royally fuck it up.

     In all the media coverage I have witnessed on the KAB, I have seen little attention paid to what happens after the bridge.  A few brave souls have asked what will happen to Wasilla infrastructure (sewer, water, schools), but what will happen to our property values?  They were quickly labeled as naysayers.   Alaskans want to build, and shame on those who question how.  But after the developers get their orgy, what are the communities left with? 

     KAB is going to bring Wasilla to Anchorages door; unless we demand Smart Growth Development.

     We need to demand that assessments are done on the land hydrology.  We need to demand that the agricultural land there remains preserved as agricultural land. (There is so little of it in this state and Alaskans so quickly discount it, but agriculture is instrumental to our future.)  We need to demand that there will be large buffer zones around the Susitna River and feeder creeks that make up its terminal watershed.  We need to demand that there be growth centers and that residential and commercial lots are regulated and dense.

     If we do not demand these things you are going to see 1 to 10 acre lots sprawled from Cook Inlet to Big Lake; Beluga to Wasilla.  The corridor, the Knik Goose Bay Road, will be one strip mall from Anchorage to Willow.  Wasilla notoriously develops strip style. 

     I vehemently oppose an auto bridge; my option would be rail and development around mass transit nodes.  But that is too “socialist” and “tree hugger” for Alaska right now.  They are going ahead with this bridge and, if done traditionally, property values in Anchorage are going to drop to dangerously low levels.  The traffic congestion will increase and Wasilla will suffer because of the strain that all the new development puts on its infrastructure.  We will suffer because the greatest caper of suburban sprawl is going on in our community.  Sprawl is divisive for the residents who live there and for those in surrounding communities; it puts strains on existing development and only benefits new home owners in the short term. 

     Once again a few land owners and resource developers are running away with their vision of the state while the rest of us squabble over Partisan smokescreens.  The real battle is how to develop, not if.  This is not anti development it is conscious development, we need to look ahead and take control away from those with short term goals.    Write your reps, write the Wasilla and Anchorage Assemblies, write your mom.  Citizens have fostered smart growth initiatives in other states, even Georgia; it can happen here.Check these links out for ideas:

http://www.smartgrowth.umd.edu/

http://www.newurbanism.org/pages/416429/index.htm

Jason Walsh is a freelance writer who resides in an undisclosed location somewhere between Vermont and Peter's Creek.