Land that’s been built upon has only the slimmest chance of ever being "undeveloped." Between 1992 and 1997, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, the rate of development of privately held land in this country more than doubled. The state-by-state breakdown below shows the average number of acres developed each year in the time frame indicated. Data for Alaska were not available at press time.
 
 

U.S. States	1982—1992	1992—1997
Texas	139,250	243,900
Pennsylvania	43,110	224,640
Georgia	76,630	210,640
Florida	116,310	189,060
North Carolina	93,580	156,300
California	80,020	138,960
Tennessee	44,110	122,320
Michigan	46,230	110,160
South Carolina	40,010	107,940
Ohio	46,860	104,240
New York	22,510	98,480
Virginia	45,360	93,440
Alabama	32,090	89,060
Kentucky	36,280	70,820
Washington	28,830	70,000
New Mexico	16,630	69,700
Mississippi	14,430	62,520
Minnesota	23,560	62,260
Missouri	20,450	62,100
Illinois	24,600	58,440
New Jersey	29,860	56,640
Wisconsin	24,760	56,560
Massachusetts	23,310	56,300
West Virginia	11,410	55,120
Indiana	22,830	54,880
Arkansas	9,580	47,440
Oklahoma	15,680	44,900
Maryland	14,690	44,460
Arizona	37,460	39,880
Kansas	11,700	38,500
Louisiana	26,320	34,420
Maine	9,250	33,560
Puerto Rico	12,460	30,620
Oregon	16,450	30,080
Montana	7,960	24,540
Idaho	8,590	24,160
Colorado	30,740	24,060
New Hampshire	14,920	21,460
Utah	10,690	21,020
Iowa	5,230	20,580
Nebraska	3,920	16,240
South Dakota	6,060	15,340
Connecticut	8,420	12,680
Wyoming	3,370	10,540
North Dakota	8,600	9,940
Nevada	8,270	8,300
Delaware	3,530	7,020
Vermont	6,490	5,200
Rhode Island	2,650	2,040
Hawaii	2,360	1,740
Total Acres Developed	1,388,410	3,193,200

• Also see "There Goes The Neighborhood"
• See "The Race To Save Open Space"
• See What You Can Do