Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Home construction = better economy?

My grandfather often remarks about the first time he passed through the valley. It was the early 1940’s and he could “see a CAT way out in the middle of nowhere, digging a hole.” He said this would later be the BMI industrial plants. Little did he know then that he would move to what would someday become Henderson, and that it would continue to grow into a very large city.

Many of us who are native or longtime residents of Henderson share the same feelings when it comes to building, building, and more building: we don’t like it. Henderson used to be a much smaller, quieter, less bustling town. Those of us who were born and raised here liked our town the way it was. But of course, you can’t stop what is destined to occur.

It’s not only that I hate change – I just don’t like the idea of jamming a billion people into a confined space and making them share the same roads, stores, schools, and such. I like my space, and anyone who knows me knows they’d better give me at least an arm’s distance.

When I first heard of the LandWell Company’s plans to build “Cadence”, a community including 15,000 homes on undeveloped land at Lake Mead and Boulder Highway, I was instantly against it. However, I was aware that major cleanup had to be done with the dirt before anything could take place. The last article I could find about the project was on May 13 last year.

Since that time, I have seen trucks working on the cleanup process. But, because of the deep recession our country is treading, I convinced myself that it would be quite awhile before any more empty homes would go up, if ever. I like to comfort myself in convincing ways such as this.

And as happens quite frequently, I was wrong.

As I drove eastbound on Lake Mead Parkway a few days ago, off to my left was a sight not seen in quite some time: water trucks! I honestly pumped my brake pedal upon first glance. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The project is starting after all.

Just maybe this is a sign of hope. Even though I’m not too chipper about moving more people, cars, and houses into my so-called small town, I could use some good news right now. Money is tight, okay, fraying, and the mental toll this recession is taking on me is worse than a budget deficit. If a truck smoothing over some dirt signifies the promise of a better economic world to come, then I’m all for it.

It happened for my grandpa 70 years ago, and hey, history does repeat itself.

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