Will solitude become impossible with increasing population?

[Will]

There is really a question about perception.  Do you perceive spaces as more crowded, more developed, less accessible?  When I first moved to the Phoenix area in 1994 the population was 1.14 million, and in 2013, the last year I can find numbers, the population was up to 1.5 million; increasing 19,000 every year for 19 years.  I perceive it as over-populated, but what I find more damaging is that it's over-developed and less accessible.  There are too many people to keep up the infrastructure and a need for new development.  Phoenix used to be a great town to live in, but the crashing economy and Hurricane Katrina changed everything.  Everywhere you go is more crowded, the air is filthy, the city stinks.  Ugh, I could go on and on, but I'm getting away from the point.

It seems like the start of every hiking season finds more crowded trail heads and fewer parking spaces available.  Trying to get out of town on the weekend is invariably met with traffic jams caused by jack-knifed 5th wheels or some careless ass flicking a cigarette out the window and causing a brush fire.  Where you really notice it is lost access at wilderness gateways.

We used to take a jeep trail out to a Superstition Wilderness boundary gate.  Few people knew about it.  It was our access to paradise.  Others had little known spots to slip into the Superstitions and their own experience.  Spoiled? Absolutely, but we found these spots by looking at maps and exploring, on our own without a brown sign pointing the way like some parking lot attendant carrying neon glow sticks and wearing an orange vest.

As with any growth, we needed more places for people to live.  It wasn't long before homes were built along the boundary, and that once hidden boundary gate now had street signs out on the highway with signage pointing to a paved parking lot built around the gate.  Where we once needed a spotter to make sure we were clearing boulders, now you have to be careful about backing up up to make sure the tire spikes don't get you.  It's sickening.  People who moved her from Chicago, Buffalo, and New Orleans don't know what it was like before; they think it's great right now.  I think it sucks; it's a lost gem in the desert.  When I tell them the traffic, crowded stores, light pollution, increased temps and filthy are are soul sucking and a slow death, they think I'm crazy.  They just don't know.

There are plenty of places to go, to get away from all this.  For us to continue living in Phoenix means driving further and dealing with traffic to get there.  That typically means less time in the the wilderness, but that's certainly better than no time.  We plan to move, and this issue is at the top of the list.

Will

[branchville]

The sad fact is, that while to find solitude in nature is still possible, it IS getting harder and harder- even if that is somewhat gradual. With ever increasing immigration and population, less trees, more development, and now even drones, I do fear for the future. The mental and physiological benefits of being alone in nature are extremely beneficial- also for people with anxiety, depression and former drug addicts. The only answer seems to me is to curve population growth both internally and externally, convert golf courses into forests, find a way to build cities on oceans (maybe in the next 100 years or so) and build taller buildings. 

Edited September 6, 2015 by branchville

[ppine]

In the West, new wilderness areas are still being designated.  There is still  a backlog of Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) that have not had determinations yet on Federal Lands to see if they meet the criteria of the Wilderness Act.  The areas that make it have the road network removed and rehabilitated.  Usually buildings are removed or burned unless they have high historical significance.

The birth rate in the US is at an all-time low.  Immigration laws are about to be addressed. Current in-migration from Mexico for example is very close to the rate of out-migration, contrary to what is reported by some news agencies.

As the population in the US ages, some interest in the outdoors is declining.  Tent camping has been described as a "sunset" industry which will probably never reach the levels of the 1970s-1990s.  RV camping is becoming more popular.  National Park visitation continues to climb. Backpacking has received some notoriety via some recent books and films, but that is likely to be short-lived. Through hiking has become popular, but the number of actual backpackers is flat, and likely to decline over time.

The situation in the East is somewhat different.

I believe the opportunities for solitude going forward will either stay about the same or get slightly better.  Selecting places to go is an acquired skill.  I have one million acres of BLM land behind my back fence with wild horses and eagles on it. That is not an accident. Often people looking for solitude are better off on nearby National Forest land than in National Parks for instance.