By Peter Galuszka

On the surface, Virginia seems to have it all: A strong economy. An exploding high-tech sector. Great universities. Wonderful quality of life, including natural beauty, mountains, seashore, the Chesapeake Bay, museums, cultural activities and unique historical sites.

Similar problems are spread throughout the state. Try driving across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel or out of Charlottesville on U.S. 29 at rush hour. Nor is traffic the only issue. Suburban sprawl washing over countryside like a tsunami ruins the economic basis of the counties whose beauty, convenience and good municipal services made them a draw in the first place. Large-lot and large-house subdivision price many middle class people out of the housing markets. Critical wetlands are threatened while more and more freeways add more ozone to the air and wash more polluting hydrocarbons into creeks.

At the same time, as any state, Virginia must grow or die. Absolute conservation is simply not an option. So, are there solutions that can balance various needs? Virginia Business thinks so, and that is why we are launching a year-long series of articles on growth and development issues that affect communities and rural areas from one part of the state to the other.

We start with a special report (Northern Virginia Secedes?) on the issues confronting Northern Virginia, which by coincidence has both the strongest economy and worst growth problems. Resolving those issues is critical for the rest of the state since Northern Virginia is the source of a massive flow of tax money to the rest of the Old Dominion. Other sections of the state are watching Northern Virginia for trends and many high-tech businesses spawned near Washington may spill downstate. For their part, Northern Virginians say that Richmond’s traditional ways of drawing tax revenues are outdated, and new, regional regimes for raising taxes are essential. While the tax-cutting mantras of many of the state’s conservative politicians win votes, they don’t address critical issues for the state’s largest areas, some say.

In coming months, we’ll be touching on similar problems in Richmond, Hampton Roads and Roanoke. Plus, we’ll examine the destruction of farmland, threats to the rich but sensitive Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, and how to revive repressed inner city areas with novel ways of financing stores and other businesses. "Smart growth" policies that aim for a careful balance of housing density will be explored. We’ll also identify commercial real estate trends and where the largest industrial sites are.