A Million More By 2020

A Million More By 2020

This afternoon on the Kojo Nanamdi Show on WAMU a group of panelists discussed the projected growth of the Washington region between now and 2020. The consensus was that the area stretching from Northeast Maryland to Hampton Roads, Virginia will add a million more people in that time period. One of the panelists suggested that the region will soon be referred to as the "Chesapeake Crescent."

This weeks Kiplinger Letter also talked about growth. Kiplinger forecasts a national growth rate of "almost one percent per year, adding one person every 11 seconds. By 2030, there'll be 60 million more people living on U.S. soil, a total of 360 million."

Scary?

I don't think so. I happen to subscribe to the notion that growth is both healthy and desirable. Sure, it presents challenges but it also presents a wealth of opportunities. Managing the two is key to maintaining a high quality of living.

We are doubly blessed in this area as I said before. Our location smack dab in the center of the Chesapeake Crescent bodes very well for our local economy. As Jay Hancock pointed out in his column in today's Sun, Maryland is likely to weather any recession in the coming year due to increased defense spending and the growth in health care. Our proximity to Fort Meade means that we will see more than our fair share of those defense dollars.

We got it good indeed!