Whether Crawling or Sprawling, Growth Moves On By Donnita Fisher
I
t’s hard to see the growth of our children, our pets or our stomachs, because we see them daily and it happens so very slowly. Not so with our communities. Drive down Hwy. 78 or FM 544 – the major arteries that connect us – and it’s easy to see the asphalt and concrete, the storefronts and rooftops that signify a community’s growth. As some of our areas reach near capacity on housing developments, the community focuses on maintaining quality and providing additional restaurant and retail. The home builders move to a more rural area and the cycle begins again. And here we grow again.
LAVON
Driving out of Wylie north on Hwy. 78, it will become harder and harder to recognize the once rural community of Lavon. “We’ve got the growth,” said Pam Mundo, executive director of the Lavon Economic Development Corporation. “These are exciting times. Major growth is before the community as Hwy. 78 improvements, with six lanes, are now completed. Improvements to Hwy. 205, four traffic lanes, will begin in late 2020. These improvements will bring better access to Interstate 30 south of Lavon.” According to information from LEDC, the community experienced about a 10 % growth increase between 2018 and 2019 putting the population just under 4,000. That
growth is expected to continue significantly over the next few years. City reports indicate there are 1,689 single-family residential lots currently entitled and 785 single-family platted lots in construction. Additionally there is the potential for 352 multi-family housing lots. New retail in Lavon that opened in 2019 included 5 Flooring & Plus; 7-Eleven Convenience Store; Bayside Nutrition; Good Fella’s Pizza; Lavon Pharmacy; Lavon Nail Art & Spa; O’Reilly Auto Part; Sawaaro Spa and St. Paul Pharmacy.
10 • The CONNECTION • February/March 2020
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