Resting in the foothills of the Rockies, Boulder, Colo. (pop. 85,000), has been called "the nicest small town in the U.S." It wants to stay that way: last year it put a quota of 450 on the construction of new houses as a means of limiting population growth to 2% a year.
The surrounding county, too, is concerned about holding down growth. Says Walden Toevs, chairman of the Boulder County commission: "We would like to avoid becoming an Orange County [Calif.], where every inch of space has been developed and where the orange groves that gave it the name are gone."
For a...