Dear HCN,
I can remember when
Tortolita near Tucson was undeveloped land, raw and ruggedly
beautiful. Now it’s a suburb. So I was surprised and a little
disappointed by the one-sided way that Tony Davis reported on the
incorporation of the town of Tortolita (HCN, 9/29/97). I didn’t
know whether to laugh or cry when he mentioned the “low-impact way
of life” of the residents. By any reasonable measure – per capita
gasoline consumption, habitat disturbed per dwelling unit, or what
have you – the Tortolita lifestyle must be about the highest impact
on earth.
Davis seems to reason that since the
developers who opposed the incorporation are anti-environmental bad
guys, local residents must be the good guys. He uncritically
accepts the assurance of a local that “We’ve captured the high
ground and the moral ground.” If so, the ground they’ve captured is
remarkably bereft of people with moderate incomes. The desire to
live in an exclusive neighborhood may be widespread, but there is
nothing particularly moral or environmental about
it.
Chris
Gehlker
Phoenix,
Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline No kudos for Tortolitans.
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