Texans pride ourselves on being just that -- Texans. I've never really known for sure why, but somehow I've also intuitively known that there's just something special about home. The people? The land? The history? It's probably a combination of all three. The reputation stretches beyond its border. When I moved to New York City, I was pretty impressed that many of the people I met had a fascination with Texas. I realized that there's a mystique about Texas that I was totally unaware of until I came here.
If we are proud of our home, why then do Texas political leaders and voters stand by as our countryside is paved over with parking lots and big box chain stores? Why do we stand by as our culture is squandered as small locally-owned businesses close their doors, unable to compete with new corporate businesses?
I'm afraid that the leaders see the land as serving one purpose -- making money. Little emphasis is given to preservation. Little attention is given to limiting growth, or zoning for higher density construction. In practice, if a land developer wants to build on a piece of land, it's done. Six months later, the rolling hills are a sea of identical rooftops. The solution for traffic congestion is more roads. Too much traffic? Build roads. When those roads get congested, build more roads. It's an endless, expensive, and dangerous cycle.
Some might say that restricting the booming economy would be a death wish for what's proudly touted as the fastest growing community in the U.S., but I disagree. When the national economy is booming, the Federal Reserve increases the interest rates for one purpose -- to slow economic growth. By slowing an unsustainable growth, it can be prolonged and cultivated. Had leaders done this in the late 1920's, perhaps Black Tuesday and the following economic depression could have been prevented.
Certainly my hometown aspires to be unique. It's plastered all over the new water towers: "McKinney. Unique by Nature." Yet every time I go home, it looks more and more like every other city. I have trouble understanding how one can be proud of Texas while authorizing the death of everything that makes it special.
"The general rule in history is that a city having reached its highest point of wealth becomes congested, refuses to accept its only remedy, and passes on from congestion to decay."
-Quoted from an article from The Reporter, April 14, 1960
1 comment:
did i ever tell you that I spent some time in Athens, TX? Little town out east. I loved it for those reasons that make little towns in Texas wonderful. But, I think they were working on building a third walmart. While progress is good, there must be some way of preserving what makes different parts of america great and different than by simply putting those things into museums and living life in the bland suburban sprawl that is happening to us. when you are a senator, what do you plan to do about it?
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