USA Today has an article about the decline in the amount of trash Americans are tossing out, and how that might be related to a down economy.  Winston-Salem/Forsyth County construction waste is one of their examples:

•Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, N.C. The 19% decline in
construction debris in 2008 is "more likely related to economic
factors" said Jan McHargue, solid waste administrator.

Since the Chamber of Commerce and local realtors recently blamed the drop in new development on onerous city development ordinances I’m assuming they’ll do the same here.