Slow Growth Initiative
 

Costs and Impacts of Growth in Chelmsford

  • School Facilities (K-12) - Our excellent schools seem ever-strained.
  • Sewer and Drainage Systems - In 1995 town reports Chelmsford will not have shortfall of capacity to serve future needs…look where we are now.
  • Roads and Traffic Signals - Notice any recent changes?
  • Water Service Facilities - Increased water bans due to stressed capacity.
  • Fire Department - Relocation studies and rotating closure of satellite stations.
  • Open Space/Recreational Facilities - Town officials wrongly call “open space” a liability.
  • Police Facilities
  • Public Library Facilities
  • General Government Infrastructure
  • Power Generation and Distribution
  • Waste Disposal Facilities - Limited pickup and expensive services


  • Decreased Water Quality
  • Decreased Air Quality
  • Increased Rates of Resource Consumption (water, energy, etc.)
  • Lost Open Space and Resource Lands (farms and forests)
  • Lost Visual and Natural Aesthetic Values
  • Lost Wildlife Habitat
  • Increased Noise
  • Increased Regulation (loss of freedom)
  • Increased Traffic Congestion (delays and increased commute time)
  • Higher Cost of Housing
  • Higher Cost of Land
  • Higher Cost of Living
  • Increased Crime
  • Lost Sense of Community
  • Costs to Future Generations