OK, I know Realtors won't agree. Same for banks and mortgage lenders. And housing contractors, too.

Come to think of it, the folks who believe bigger is always better and more is always merrier probably won't like it much, either.

Still, I'd like to think that most York countians recognize the strain that population expansion places on our infrastructure, public safety, health care and public school systems. And the higher taxes required to pay for all that stuff, too.

So if I'm right, there are plenty of Yorkers out there who, like me, aren't too disappointed at the downturn in residential housing construction and sales in York County. It would be fine and dandy with most of us if another new house isn't built in these parts for 10 years.

Because I'm telling you we're getting a mite cramped what with all the new houses that have been built the last decade or two. Squeezed. As in more and more brick, mortar and macadam, and less and less woodland, pasture and open area.

It's growth, we're told. And growth is a good thing.

Not always, it's not.

And for the first time in years, York residents are beginning to experience the benefits of a housing slump. With fewer new homes being built, municipalities and school districts are having a chance to catch their breath.

And it's a good thing. The timing couldn't be better.

You need look no farther than the 16 public school districts in York County to understand the pressures of residential growth that exceeds

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a community's ability to provide for it.

School districts in York County have been eyeball-deep in expansion projects for years. It's $30 million for this elementary school, or $40 million for that middle school or $53 million for such-and-such high school. One construction project after another. One district after another. Sometimes more than one or two construction projects going on at the same time.

If it's not West York, then it's Spring Grove. And if it's not Central, it's Red Lion. Or Eastern. Or Dallastown. Or York City. Or Southern. Or Southeastern. Or Northeastern. Or ... well, all of them.

They all say they're bursting at the seams and need more room, more teachers, more of everything to handle the growth of the student population.

Along with that, of course, is the necessary expansion of municipal services -- fire and police and road construction and trash collection to accommodate the increases in residential housing.

But thanks to the housing slump, some of that pressure is easing a bit.

And I couldn't be happier about it.

Because taxpayers need a break. You can't keep getting blasted with higher taxes from school districts and municipalities without wondering if, when and how it's ever going to end.

York County school districts (as a group) had fewer home sales in 2007 than they did in 2006 -- a decrease of about 10 percent countywide. The Eastern York school district had a 24 percent drop in
home sales last year, immediately followed by the West York school district (21 percent) and the Dallastown and South Western school districts (20 percent).

I'm almost starting to think I might live long enough to see my school property taxes and/or municipal taxes decrease for a couple of consecutive years. It's a foreign concept, I know, but if we can hold onto this housing slump for another two or three years, it could actually happen.

Like I said, it's a breath of fresh air for a lot of us.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.