Opinion: Why can't Dartmouth afford nice things?

To the Editor:

The schools need more money, the waste treatment plant is at capacity and needs to be expanded, our water system can't meet demand, the roads and streets are deteriorating, and town departments are struggling to maintain services. Why can't Dartmouth afford to fix all these things? Well, the dirty secret is that the growth in town has followed an unsustainable pattern that nearly every American town and city has relied upon for 70 years. Single family detached homes on big lots, malls and big box stores with acres of parking, and multilane roads to connect you to where you live, work, and shop is a pattern that has proven to be unable to generate the tax revenue required to maintain itself. But, you say, we have done it in the past. Yes, it was done by generating additional revenue by building more single family homes on large lots and more big box stores with huge parking lots. In truth, we can't afford to maintain what we have, but we covered the shortfall by doing more of the same. Now our kids and elders can't afford to live here, our roads are clogged (Route 6 anyone?), our town is slowly going broke. Can't we do more of the same?

Here comes the big problem. There is a finite amount of land to expand and Dartmouth is approaching the limits. No more growth to maintain the unsustainable. Dartmouth needs a new plan! A clear eyed plan stripped of visions of a rural Dartmouth, lots of open space, farms, and small villages because that place doesn't exist except in our memories. To learn more about the trap we find ourselves in, research the Strong Town movement. I believe they have the answer.

William Trimble