Open/Closed

I’ve been thinking about Governor Hogan’s State slogan, “Maryland is open for business.” It stands to reason that any state would want to attract jobs, good jobs if at all possible. So business means jobs. And jobs mean workers. And workers have to live somewhere.

Where?

Is Maryland Open for Workers? For Families? Are we welcoming to new residents or are we only looking for better jobs for the people we have already? And if residents move up to better jobs, who gets the old jobs? Where do they live?

Attracting new business is seen as a sign of a good local leader. In Howard County it would seem that one ought to attract business without creating any additional residents. I don’t know if that is altogether possible. If there isn’t enough housing, workers will have to commute from somewhere else. That means a lower quality of life for them and more carbon emissions for all of us.

And traffic. We all hate that gridlock from folks coming in and out, right?

Maybe someone should tell the Governor to cancel this “Open for Business” thing until we figure out if we’re open for people.