We don't, he said, putting a finger in my face, need to grow anymore. We're big enough. I see by reading some recent letters to the editor that this visitor, who wanted to vent his anger in person, is not alone in believing that now is the time for Wichita Falls to just settle back and be happy as a city of about 100,000 with no more improvements, and no more inconveniences, than those already in place. These folks are right about one thing. There are certainly consequences to growth.
Growth requires a certain investment.
It requires an investment of time and trouble and resources on the part of a lot of people in government and a lot of people who volunteer their time and their brainpower and donate money to plan for growth and then to deal with it as it happens. But other consequences of growth involve a better quality of life, more opportunities for young people, an improved infrastructure and cheaper per-capita costs for government services. Those who want to grow invest their resources to achieve those outcomes. They certainly don't do it to make things worse. That would be foolish.