When urban growth seems inevitable, what is there to be done?

Raymond Balaguer  Contributor  Does urban development always look the same? Does economic growth imply that a small town needs to expand geographically in all directions? Are traffic jams and unbearable heat waves a fair price to pay for more coffee shops and shopping malls? These are some questions I ask myself when I hear talks about new construction projects in different parts of small towns such as Live Oak.  The answers to those questions might be different depending on who you ask. Urban developers and small-town managers might agree that, due to zoning restrictions and lower land prices, it is more cost-efficient to use the land surrounding a town for new construction projects t