Salon Newsreal | The war against sprawl, II

A L S O+T O D A Y

The war against sprawl I
By Rob Gurwitt
Think Al Gore's "smart growth" plan is a no-brainer? Think again

Reactions to the president's speech
Experts discuss Clinton's performance and what effects his proposals would have on the actual problems he identified as priorities

[ WANDERLUST ]
Can this planet be saved?
By Don George
Mark Hertsgaard discusses his new book about the human toll of global environmental devastation
[ WANDERLUST ]
Earth odyssey
By Mark Hertsgaard
A visit to Bangkok reveals the economic temptations and environmental troubles of the Technological Age

T A B L E+T A L K
Who would be your "Man or Woman of the Century"? Nominate your candidate in the International Issues area of Table Talk
___________________
Visit barnesandnoble.com for politics books on both sides of the aisle
___________________

R E C E N T L Y
We interrupt this impeachment ...
By Joshua Micah Marshall
Two years in a row, Clinton's State of the Union address proves he won't follow the Presidential Tragedy script
(01/20/99)
Dear Henry
By Sean Wilentz, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and C. Vann Woodward
Historians talk back to House impeachment managers
(01/20/99)
What might have been
By Joan Walsh
It's hard to watch this president perform so well, knowing that he has already undermined his -- and our -- hopes for any real legislative success
(01/20/99)
Diamond in the Ruff
By Harry Jaffe
The president's lawyer, a lone figure in his wheelchair in the well of the Senate, could not have been a more effective defender
(01/20/99)
The State of the Union
Prepared text of President Clinton's State of the Union address
(01/20/99)
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-----The war against sprawl, II
IT'S OWLS AGAINST DEVELOPERS IN ARIZONA'S ORO VALLEY.

BY SUSAN ZAKIN | Esther Underwood sits under a striped umbrella next to the golf course at the Sheraton El Conquistador Country Club in Oro Valley, Ariz. Beyond the glittery green lies a postcard view of a nearby mountain range. It is a perfect 70 degrees here in the fastest-growing town in Arizona, where life is good and real estate professionals like Underwood are used to running the show.
"I no longer have respect for that woman," says Underwood, speaking rather more gently than she has in screaming matches captured by local television cameras recently. "Nancy Young Wright is no longer devoted to her children. That's not to say she's a bad mother, but I think her causes have gotten away from her."
Harsh words, perhaps, but Nancy Young Wright is getting used to it. Last year, shortly after her election to the local School Board, Young Wright became the snake in the suburban paradise of Oro Valley by opposing construction of a new high school in an ironwood forest that is habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, one of the most endangered birds in the United States. Soon after she went public with her opposition, the school district was hauled into court by the Tucson-based Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, the environmental movement's most aggressive young turks, and Defenders of Wildlife, a more staid Washington, D.C., group that has nonetheless been clear in its advocacy for endangered species.
The pygmy owl case is emblematic of the country's ambivalence over its all-too-manifest middle-class destiny. The ur-suburb of Oro Valley may seem an unlikely focus for the nation's most aggressive environmental group. But the Southwest Center was founded by children of an earlier incarnation of American suburbs. Peter Galvin, 33, grew up in Framingham, Mass., where he says America's first mall was built practically in his backyard. "When I was little, we played cowboys and Indians in this forest," Galvin remembers. "Then one day, a road was bulldozed. We threw bricks through the windows of the bulldozers and poured sugar in the gas tanks. But when the development went too far, we gave up."
The culture that spawned the pygmy owl conflict is something new, though. Oro Valley is a self-sufficient island quite different from the Cheeveresque 'burbs of the 1950s and '60s. Here in the suburbs of the 1990s, no one, not even the male breadwinners, has to go to "the city." Few of the moms work and the common denominator is newly achieved affluence. Oro Valley's definition of paradise has six golf courses and about 25,000 people, and the average home price is $170,000. The harmony between developers and local government is symbolized by the fact that the street sign for Town Hall is on the same tasteful, color-coordinated frame as the signs for Estes Homes and U.S. Homes. Perhaps not surprisingly, 94 percent of the population is Anglo.
All the harmony makes the conflict over the pygmy owl more incongruous. In fact, the two women most visibly at loggerheads appear similar if you look at the mere facts of their lives. Underwood, a trim, 45-year-old real estate agent whose husband owns one of Arizona's largest landscaping companies, is the daughter of Syrian immigrants who were "dirt poor" in Nebraska farm country. Nancy Young Wright, 38, is a refugee from the wide-open spaces of eastern New Mexico, arguably the last, worst place, an unreconstructed bastion of conservatism, cattle and hard times. They're both happy with their ascent to Oro Valley; what differs is what they want to do here now that they've arrived.
N E X T+P A G E+| Class, ethnicity and real estate

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A L S O+T O D A Y The war against sprawl I By Rob Gurwitt Think Al Gore's "smart growth" plan is a no-brainer? Think again Reactions to the president's speech Experts discuss Clinton's performance and what effects his proposals would have on the actual problems he identified as priorities [ WANDERLUST ] Can this planet be saved? By Don George Mark Hertsgaard discusses his new book about the human toll of global environmental devastation [ WANDERLUST ] Earth odyssey By Mark Hertsgaard A visit to Bangkok reveals the economic temptations and environmental troubles of the Technological Age T A B L E+T A L K Who would be your "Man or Woman of the Century"? Nominate your candidate in the International Issues area of Table Talk ___________________ Visit barnesandnoble.com for politics books on both sides of the aisle ___________________ R E C E N T L Y We interrupt this impeachment ... By Joshua Micah Marshall Two years in a row, Clinton's State of the Union address proves he won't follow the Presidential Tragedy script (01/20/99) Dear Henry By Sean Wilentz, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and C. Vann Woodward Historians talk back to House impeachment managers (01/20/99) What might have been By Joan Walsh It's hard to watch this president perform so well, knowing that he has already undermined his -- and our -- hopes for any real legislative success (01/20/99) Diamond in the Ruff By Harry Jaffe The president's lawyer, a lone figure in his wheelchair in the well of the Senate, could not have been a more effective defender (01/20/99) The State of the Union Prepared text of President Clinton's State of the Union address (01/20/99) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		-----The war against sprawl, II IT'S OWLS AGAINST DEVELOPERS IN ARIZONA'S ORO VALLEY. BY SUSAN ZAKIN \| Esther Underwood sits under a striped umbrella next to the golf course at the Sheraton El Conquistador Country Club in Oro Valley, Ariz. Beyond the glittery green lies a postcard view of a nearby mountain range. It is a perfect 70 degrees here in the fastest-growing town in Arizona, where life is good and real estate professionals like Underwood are used to running the show. "I no longer have respect for that woman," says Underwood, speaking rather more gently than she has in screaming matches captured by local television cameras recently. "Nancy Young Wright is no longer devoted to her children. That's not to say she's a bad mother, but I think her causes have gotten away from her." Harsh words, perhaps, but Nancy Young Wright is getting used to it. Last year, shortly after her election to the local School Board, Young Wright became the snake in the suburban paradise of Oro Valley by opposing construction of a new high school in an ironwood forest that is habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, one of the most endangered birds in the United States. Soon after she went public with her opposition, the school district was hauled into court by the Tucson-based Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, the environmental movement's most aggressive young turks, and Defenders of Wildlife, a more staid Washington, D.C., group that has nonetheless been clear in its advocacy for endangered species. The pygmy owl case is emblematic of the country's ambivalence over its all-too-manifest middle-class destiny. The ur-suburb of Oro Valley may seem an unlikely focus for the nation's most aggressive environmental group. But the Southwest Center was founded by children of an earlier incarnation of American suburbs. Peter Galvin, 33, grew up in Framingham, Mass., where he says America's first mall was built practically in his backyard. "When I was little, we played cowboys and Indians in this forest," Galvin remembers. "Then one day, a road was bulldozed. We threw bricks through the windows of the bulldozers and poured sugar in the gas tanks. But when the development went too far, we gave up." The culture that spawned the pygmy owl conflict is something new, though. Oro Valley is a self-sufficient island quite different from the Cheeveresque 'burbs of the 1950s and '60s. Here in the suburbs of the 1990s, no one, not even the male breadwinners, has to go to "the city." Few of the moms work and the common denominator is newly achieved affluence. Oro Valley's definition of paradise has six golf courses and about 25,000 people, and the average home price is $170,000. The harmony between developers and local government is symbolized by the fact that the street sign for Town Hall is on the same tasteful, color-coordinated frame as the signs for Estes Homes and U.S. Homes. Perhaps not surprisingly, 94 percent of the population is Anglo. All the harmony makes the conflict over the pygmy owl more incongruous. In fact, the two women most visibly at loggerheads appear similar if you look at the mere facts of their lives. Underwood, a trim, 45-year-old real estate agent whose husband owns one of Arizona's largest landscaping companies, is the daughter of Syrian immigrants who were "dirt poor" in Nebraska farm country. Nancy Young Wright, 38, is a refugee from the wide-open spaces of eastern New Mexico, arguably the last, worst place, an unreconstructed bastion of conservatism, cattle and hard times. They're both happy with their ascent to Oro Valley; what differs is what they want to do here now that they've arrived. N E X T+P A G E+\| Class, ethnicity and real estate - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here.