A frustrating day indeed. where we live the houses are fairly close together, we feel lucky to have our tiny quarter acre. Within the neighborhood, a developer has bought a big chunk that is still undeveloped space, where some of the neighbors have been allowed to wander and enjoy (permission granted by the previous owners). In a town permit meeting discussing the plans for the new 28 1-bedroom units to go in, there was a comment made that rubbed me the wrong way...
when a neighbor voiced his concern for 28 new houses to be plopped down in the middle of an already crowded space and how it would be sad to lose that quiet space to run, the board replied, something to the effect of: you're acting like a spoiled child. it's his property now. you were lucky to be able to have used that space, but he's trying to make some money on his investment.
It's always sad to hear about land being turned to dollars signs when there's so little of it left.