I remember a documentary that said they were building housing developments on the finest farming soil in the nation -- Lancaster County.

It's a d@mn shame.

dedpan, thanks for your input. Lancaster county PA is the most productive non irrigated agricultural county in the nation. I know people need a place to live, but greed drives much of the real estate development market. You have to ask yourself when does it end?

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth/hope/lancaster.html

Is it greed or something else that forces people to try to control others business?

This is standard practice just about everywhere, as far as I know. Certainly just as true in NY, NJ, MD and DE as it is here in PA.

Your right to mind your own business ends when what you are doing endangers the long term security of others. Topsoil is a vital natural resource, one we need for our national security. If you study history, great civilizations fell due to depleting the soil around their settlements. Food=security, and concentrating food production to a few places seems destined to be a sitting target for disruption if times get tough, and any student of history will tell you that times do get tough off and on. I don't necessarily have a pat answer for this problem, but I'm not going to stick my head in the sand either! Greed is a pretty harsh word, it's more like just thinking about what I want today and what will make me a lot of money today and not caring a hoot about the future or the long term consequences of what we are doing. IMHO, that is EXACTLY how we ended up in our current financial crisis. We don't revere and reward saving and prudence anymore in our culture. There are those who tear down, and those who build up, and I tend to think gardeners are the builders. You've got to have a future orientation to plant something it seems! What's wrong with saying, "Hey wait a minute, we are killing the goose that laid the golden egg!" or even being the one lemming who stops and says, "Do we really want to keep marching forward?"

Interesting.
Bankers are not the only ones sick with greed...Maybe its all of us.
And sloppy, slovenly, inferior workmanship....Why is this??
I have learned that many connot be trusted, that supposedly grown men must be baby-sat...
Its a crime to steal, no matter what is stolen(intellectual property, existing clean air and water, other things)..And the more people allow this, the worse it becomes..