The US needs goals. We need to aim high.
The country is in the middle of a struggling economic recovery, facing massive federal deficits and a mushroomed national debt.
All of this happening as our last generational population boom, the baby boom, gets ready to retire. What to do?
Let's grow our country. Let's grow it by leaps and bounds. Let's set a goal of reaching a population of 500,000,000 by the year 2050.
A couple hundred thousand of those folks could easily fit inside the boundary of the city of St. Louis, and a million or three could join us here in the state of Missouri.
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4 comments:
You are also going to have to aim very high on changes in American lifestyle. An extra ~200 million people driving big SUVs and consuming goods at an unsustainable rate would eliminate a whole lot of living space along our coastlines. St. Louis would also have the temperature of say Jackson, mississippi. The United States gaining 200 million more people is not necesarily beneficial to St. Louis either (unless you plan for all the coastal refugees settling here), I mean the United States has gained 180 million people since 1930 and St. Louis city has lost 500,000.
I love the topic of what would be the ideal population in Saint Louis. Due to changing socio-economic factors (smaller families, etc.) it's doubtful that we'll ever reach our peak again; and quite arguably 850,000 would be too many.
To get to that level, the character of many historic neighborhoods likely would be severly dimished. The most likely scenario for large population growth is substantial new high-rise living downtown and North City has a huge upside potential for residential and mixed-use infill driving growth.
But I just don't see significant growth in South St. Louis.... the existing housing stock used to pack large families to the rafters. More than two kids are an anomoly these days, and larger families will choose more square footage anyways. And large-scale mixed use or high-rise residential opportunities seem to be limited in South City w/o the taking of existing housing stock.
Under this scenario of significant population recovery in north city infill and substantial hi-rise downtown but rather limited growth in south city , I wonder what kind of population that would give us.
I'm not sure what the answer would be, but I sure hope to see it happen!
I would say some are contributing to a growing population but it is not necessarily what we need. Many, within our city limits, that continue to add to the population growth, do not contribute to the tax base or work force. Instead of adding value to our population, they are adding to what the rest of us working individuals now have to support because they lack the motivation to do anything to support themselves. It's not a race issue, it is seen across the boards. Too many free handouts makes for a lazy population.
To Anonymous at 10:57: Thank you for your comment.
I would submit that there are as many or more unmotivated native born residents in this country than there are unmotivated immigrants.
Immigrants come to the US to find work and improve their standard of living.
I agree with you that this is not a race issue. Regardless of immigration, minorities are on a path to put caucasions in the minority nationwide within the next thirty to forty years.
According to the 2010 census, minority births already outpace white births in the US:
News report on US birth rates
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