Economist Anirban Basu is the chairman and chief executive officer of Sage Policy Group Inc., an economic and policy consulting firm in Baltimore.
He has researched and lectured on smart-growth principals and the economic challenges of development.
Basu space with The Examiner on the importance of preserving agricultural land.
Why should people living in urban or suburban areas care about the preservation of agricultural land?
The preservation of agricultural land leads to higher property values in the short and long run.
When agriculture activities are preserved, the implication is sprawl is reduced [and] not as much real estate product is provided to the market as would otherwise be the case. … There is a flip side, which of course is affordability.
Agricultural preservation also works in the quality of life favor. Every one of us is inspired by wide-open spaces and clean air.
Some jurisdictions are spending millions to preserve land. Is it worth the expense?
It?s always possible to pay too much for something. Agricultural preservation is a meritorious endeavor. That is not the issue.
The issue is what is the value to the community of agricultural preservation? The community elects representatives and elects administrators of county government to make those kinds of decisions.
It makes sense that some portion of the county resources be invested toward this activity because the benefits are real.
Does a slowdown in the housing market mean less competition with developers for land?
Only in the short term. Housing has the tendency to go through its boom and bust cycles, but it?s inevitable that a bust cycle will be followed by another boom.
The housing market will improve, and development activity will reaccelerate.
What needs to take place are these types of public policies that keep these open spaces and preserve the agricultural land in a county for perpetuity.
