Ray Ring

Senior Editor

Whether you gripe — or say hooray — about the West’s people explosion, take a look at a map drawn by the Center for the Rocky Mountain West.

The mapmakers answer an interesting question: How much does each county’s economy depend on construction jobs?

The West’s counties tend to be more dependent on construction jobs, compared to counties Back East. But surprise … some of the most dependent counties don’t have booming megaburgs like Vegas or Phoenix. Instead, they are the likes of Oregon’s Deschutes County (Bend and its suburbs) and Colorado’s Mesa County (Grand Junction and its suburbs).

Beyond the national map, the Center’s text tightens to analyze the Rocky Mountain states. That’s the Center’s mission. The analysis, while brief, includes dramatic stats like, from 1990 to 2004, “construction labor earnings” in most Rocky Mountain states doubled or tripled.

The Center concludes:

This growth has made all of these states much more construction dependent …

That’s what makes it tough for those trying to slow down or contain the West’s people explosion. Despite the obvious negatives of growth (more pollution, more habitat lost, more traffic jams, more crime, more total aggravation), all the hammering on new houses and Bigger-and-Bigger Box Stores means income for workers. It can shore up the whole local economy. Arguing against it amounts to arguing against workers. The politics must go uphill.