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"...Foremost among the developments... profoundly affecting American life are population growth, and the accelerated rate of urbanization and metropolitanization. The former implies a great increase in future demand for outdoor recreation... But the latter contains the possibility of greatly decreased outdoor recreation demand per capita..."
Philip M. Hauser (1962) Demographic and Ecological Changes in Outdoor Recreation, ORRRC
Notes:
To expand the quote fully...
"demand per capita... as one manifestation of man's accommodations to the urban environment, and hold forth, therefor, a quite different prospect for future aggregated demand.
What is interesting about this quote is that it was made in 1962. While strides have been made in many respects this quote still stand the test of time as it captures the challenges we face today.
When Philip M. Hauser wrote this, the population had grown by 28 million people in the decade from 1950 to 1960, which according to him was "higher than any decade of the 20th century." Today, in the decade from 1990 to 2000, 32.7 million people were added to the population which, according to US Bureau of Census, represent the greatest numerical increase in population ever. What is different between these two decades was that from 1950 to 1960 only 7% of the growth was tied to immigration, where as from 1990 to 2000 about 40% was from immigration. However, the continued mass migration to the suburbs remains the same today as it was then.
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