Growth is good where there’s plenty of room for expansion

A h, progress. One person's buzzword is another's curse word. Naturally, this all depends on your outlook and location.

For instance, folks in urban areas such as Dallas, Austin and Houston see rapid growth as just another problem to deal with. The addition of subdivisions and large business complexes just adds to the burden of expanding utility services, dealing with troublesome traffic and, in some cases, destruction of works of nature.

But out here in desolate West Texas, construction is greeted with the same enthusiasm as the advent of spring. And we don't have to worry that new buildings will destroy any of the lovely countryside and pollute our lakes and streams.

Nobody's going to mourn the passing of one of our majestic mesquite bushes. And it's hard to carve a house into the side of a scenic mountain when you don't have anything that remotely fits that description.

So a Central Texas person's ugly urban sprawl is a West Texan's delight.

Now if you think about it enough, even the flat Permian Basin feels some environmental impact when another hotel or housing subdivision springs up.

For instance, the area along Eastridge Road between Billy Hext and Faudree is being transformed rapidly. And it wasn't all that long ago that was rugged country where, along toward sunset, you could occasionally catch a glimpse of a young mountain lion ambling along. No more.

Now the removal of that animal's occasional habitat isn't any big deal. There are miles and miles of nothing much all around that area, meaning the big cat just had to take a detour and alter his (assuming a gender) routine slightly to avoid inconvenience.

Developers may even have done the mountain lion a favor because he was venturing a little too close to civilization for his own good.
But such isolated examples do little to dim the excitement of watching buildings rise out of the West Texas landscape. That's because every board that's added to a house or business means employment for another person. Jobs mean retail growth. Retail growth helps stimulate the local economy in many ways.

It's fun to take regular drives to see how the latest ventures are progressing. The new apartment complex on Faudree Road has been marvelous to watch. It's gone up so quick, you'd swear you were viewing it on time-lapse photography.

The development of another housing area goes a little slower, but it is nonetheless fascinating to follow. It's amazing that a scrubby patch of barren ground can turn into an attractive oasis within months.

Two exciting institutional projects loom. Before long, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin will have its science and technology complex rising on campus and the performing arts center north of Midland International Airport isn't that far from breaking ground.

In fact, some long-term residents got hooked on witnessing construction projects way back when UTPB was just a dream beginning to come true. And they've watched as the school gradually got more and more of a campus look.

Plus there are new hotels, car dealerships and even overpasses to view as they grow out of otherwise not-so-scenic locales.

Yeah, progress beats the alternatives, especially here in boom-or-bust country. We'll take busy over stagnant any day. Plus, it gives you an excuse to drive around and watch the march of progress. And that's the good kind of progress, by the way.