The Changing Santa Fe Landscape

The signs of development are clear. Concrete where there used to be gravel. Fences where there used to be fields. Cell-towers disguised as trees where there used to be, well, trees. This seemingly could describe most rural areas in the United States now, but I am referring specifically to the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The west, and New Mexico to a more significant degree, has long been associated with natural, unaltered beauty. Gradually, though, the signs of civilization are creeping outward from cities and many views are long-gone. When my parents first went to New Mexico, they found an adobe house in the middle of what was then nowhere. Thirty years ago, once you left Santa Fe, there was nothing but arid dirt, dust, and short trees for miles. This is a sight that I can only imagine, since it was already gone when I was born. Only three decades have altered the terrain drastically, and I long to see what the land that I have grown to know so well looked like. Now there is property stretching many times farther than there were when my parents first visited, and highways cut through the terrain. What once were narrow gravel roads are now paved with stoplights. Billboards have sprung up advertising the nearest casino, and there are savvy locals use the neighborhood as a quick cut-through. What once were two room adobe getaways are now multistory homes with large panoramic windows. The neighborhood council now has year-long debates over whether large companies should be allowed to move their corporate offices into the area. What is scary, though, is that this is just the beginning. In the grand scheme of urban sprawl and habitat destruction, the appearance of paved roads and a few interstate highways is tiny, insignificant. Will my children know anything like the environment that I love today? I wonder if they will be able to see the stars like I do at night, with zero light pollution to obscure the entire milky way from sight. I find myself interestingly in the early stages of environmental change in the outskirts of Santa Fe, and I worry what the future will hold.