I’m in the real estate business and I often find myself at odds with my peers in that I don’t beleive that any and all development is good. I’m appalled when RPAC (the Realtor’s lobbying arm) endorses candidates who have a “laissez faire” attitude toward development (and business). I know there are folks in Floyd that feel they have a right to do whatever they want with their property and we should always be mindful of the rights of property owners but individual property owners don’t live in a “vacuum”. Each and every piece of land is connected to several others and owners need to think in terms of what’s good for the community as well as what’s best for themselves.

Your comment about the cost of land for younger folks hit home with me since the primary motivation for my recent land purchase was to insure that my daughter (who just married a Floyd local) would not spend the rest of her career hoping that her income would catch up with the rapidly rising land prices. We hope to build a couple of “appropriate” energy-efficient homes that will compliment the character of the area maybe even raise a new generation of Floyd “natives”.

Rick