Some people living in a great community can be a little like a jealous husband who keeps his wife from wearing makeup and dressing pretty so that no one else notices her beauty. Sometimes when you live in a wonderful town, you want people to stop coming once you have settled in. The truth is, you can love a town but still help it flourish as it grows.
Dripping Springs is a wonderful community but even the best towns have growing pains and some residents have a hard time adjusting to infrastructure needs.
A good example is the recent TXDOT meeting at Ranch Park where future plans for a Highway 290 expansion were unveiled. Everyone knew this project was coming, that it is severely needed, and our Highway 290 is one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the state. Some of the representatives of TXDOT were verbally pummeled like marauders coming over the wall.
TXDOT has shown an openness to working with locals to find ways to lessen the negative impacts on the road expansion, but make no mistake, the expansion is coming. TXDOT has a mandate to improve our highways to meet demand and to make our roads as safe as possible.
It’s time for residents to look at this as a positive step even though it will bring some temporary pain. Going to a meeting and calmly explaining your concerns can go a long way to getting what you want. Tensions can be high, but calm and measured will go much further than yelling and screaming; and you won’t end up on TikTok looking like an idiot.
The local community has many opportunities for making a difference. The City of Dripping Springs has dozens of positions open to community members who will help determine the direction of the city as it grows. The number of volunteer opportunities that exists locally are overwhelming.
Loving your community doesn’t mean that you obstruct and shut down anyone who wants to improve it. It means getting involved, learning the issues and calmly offering solutions. Your input can help determine something as simple as what type of landscaping is allowed in a public space or as complicated as how a major highway might be constructed 10 years in the future.
People with whom you disagree are not bad people. They are people who have a different point of view.
What happens in Washington may not really touch day to day lives, but what happens locally affects us all. Whenever something is happening locally, get involved and ask yourself every step of the way; “Am I being anti-development, or am I being pro-community?”
-Steve Mallett, Broker Associate, GRI- Mallett Integrity Team, Keller Williams, has been helping people buy and sell Real Estate in the Dripping Springs and Greater Austin area since 2003. He is a founding member of Dripping Springs Elite.
About Dripping Springs Elite Real Estate Professionals
Dripping Springs Elite is NOT a brokerage of agents, but a professional organization of top real estate agents and brokers in the Dripping Springs area from different brokerages. We collaborate and work together to make buying and selling the best possible for our clients. DS Elite is also dedicated to building our community and its nonprofits to strengthen the quality of life for all residents. Contact one of our agents today!