General Manager’s Note — May 2007
General Manager’s Note — May 2007
Written by Claire Love Monday, 07 May 2007
Preparing for growth
I love the Discovery channel and I’ve recently found myself addicted to the “real life” survivor shows. It’s not that I anticipate being lost in the Sonoran desert having to stitch up a wound using the needle point and tough fibrous strands of a yucca leaf, but you never know when the survival tips might come in handy. At a minimum, it makes for quality entertainment.
On one of the shows, the host parachutes out of a plane and lands in the middle of the African desert. The first thing you should do in such a situation, he says, is to find high ground from which to search for a river or large body of water. Once you find water, you can rest assured you aren’t far from human life and the communities that have developed around the precious resource.
It’s a strange parallel, but it seems to me the same holds true as we witness the transition of the wide open spaces in cities like Leander. Infrastructure such as water, wastewater and utilities must be in place before the population growth can occur. In areas where such growth is inevitable, there is a strong case for a forward thinking approach to development.
An example is Ronald Reagan Boulevard where the mayor and city officials are in the process of moving landowners towards a partnership that would offer them long-term cost savings and bring a “harmonious” master plan to what could become one of the city’s most valuable corridors.
Speaking of growth, my husband and I are expecting our first child next month, so I may miss a column or two. As I round the corner to the big day, I’m beginning to wonder if those survival tips will come in handy after all!
Claire M. Love, General Manager
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