Today is the birthday of my wife (aka "the other DrC") and, to celebrate, we rented a car and drove around Maui for most of the day. We had a nice time, because the Valley Isle is a nice place. But not as nice as it used to be.
We first came here in 1979, some 28 years ago. We've been back every few years since. What is most glaring is the level of development. Many new buildings, new hotels, new condos, new time-shares, new shopping centers, new highways. All the trappings of a rapidly growing population and economy. And so, of course, Maui is not as nice a place to visit as it was in 1979.
This leads me to propound, with tongue partially in cheek, Cotton's Law of Geographic Attractiveness: The desirability of a particular place is directly proportional to its scenic and climatic attractiveness and at the same time inversely proportional to the population density (no. of people per acre). Don't forget Murphy's Corollary to Cotton's Law: The more attractive the climate and scenery, the more rapid the growth in population density. Really unattractive places grow slowly, if at all, while really attractive places grow rapidly. Remember also Adam Smith's Corollary to Cotton's Law: Property values grow even faster than population density. Finally, I propose the Lemming Postulate to Cotton's Law: High population density can make otherwise attractive places unattractive to many people.
If you project these trends out in a linear fashion, population in CA, FL, HI, AZ, etc. will grow until some combination of increasing property prices and increasing population stall further growth. In some areas this has already happened. In Los Angeles and the SF Bay Area daily commutes of 3 to 4 hours are not uncommon for normal folks who want to buy a home.
I suppose eventually people will rediscover the joys of low population density and give up excellent climate to repopulate small towns in Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. There are probably still places there where a nice house can be bought for under $100K. Meanwhile, if you plan to come to Maui, come soon before it becomes even more developed and urban.
