The need for accessible transportation is expected to increase due to the increase in jobs, workers, families, and overall regional population. Additional traffic will increase congestion and, as a result, adjustments to highways, roads, and the addition of public transportation may be needed. This includes the potential installation of one or more of these components: highway lanes, traffic lights, guard rails, traffic signs, overpasses, and/or bus stops.

Because there will be an increase in jobs and a spike in population, inequalities in access to natural resources, services, and transportation will emerge demographically or by location in proximity to a hazardous area. To combat this, racial, economic, and sex-based discrimination in real estate will have to be addressed.

Furthermore, physical location differences (such as the area next to a power plant) needs to be addressed before trying to house and support people. Pollution mitigation and/or reestablishment of the plant, factory and facility to a different and permanently resident-free zone.

Urbanization generally tends to produce schools with better resources, less staff shortages and improved academic performance among students. However, it may be a driving cause of inequality within the school system as not all families have reasonable access to such schools. Urbanization can also raise the cost of living in a given area, which can further add to the limited access to schools for some families.

We can reasonably expect air pollution due to increased traffic levels to also increase. Additionally, as more people move into the area following the job surge, we can also predict that the consumption of goods and production of physical waste from those goods will increase. This aspect is particularly important as Raccoon Creek has struggled with the mismanagement of waste in the past; on multiple occasions, sewage waste has been dumped into the Creek. For example, a local business dumped a great amount of waste into a waste dumping site nearby. However, because of the amount of waste that was being dumped, it spilled into the creek after a large rainfall. In addition to waste, the Creek has also struggled with acid mine drainage from previous land and surface mining (Forster, 2021). Although it is not as prevalent an issue as it was in the past, it is important to get the drainage problem mostly solved before allowing more people to live in this area.

Another reason to be aware of the potential increase in pollution are the rare and endangered species that live in the wetlands or in the Raccoon Creek Watershed itself. These species include: the Indiana bat, bald eagles, river otters, timber rattlesnakes, sharp-shinned hawks, red-shouldered hawks, cerulean warblers, Eastern box turtles, and bobcats (Grace, n.d). Additionally, a plethora of fish species live in Raccoon Creek that are vital to the local economy and recreational uses. If more pollution is added to this area, it could be devastating for these species and may drive some to go extinct. With the creation of more highways, this could lead to an increase of sedimentation and erosion, damage the habitats of these species, and displacement. Lastly, the lack of riparian zones in the watershed to protect the area from erosion and sedimentation is something that should be pursued in the future. As intel enters and population increases in the area, there will be a need for more riparian zones.

The expansion of urban land development into undeveloped locations significantly affects the integrity of an area’s natural ecosystems. Urban development has the capacity to permanently alter the spatial configuration and the internal dynamics of an existing ecosystem, putting at risk the biodiversity and ecosystem services cultivated by that ecosystem. Ecosystem and habitat loss as a result of urbanization is often globally overlooked.

In response to the increase in jobs and subsequent rise in population in the Intel area, an increase in density will attract more businesses. These businesses may include potential services and goods not in the immediate area such as grocery stores, restaurants, and car auto shops. This growth would occur over long periods of time following Intel’s installation. The subsequent development pressures may change if Intel is located near a highway to already existing resources.