The facts and figures of optimism bombard me constantly, even from those people who want me to see behind the Chamber of Commerce spiel. If I ask politely, “What happens when the growth stops?” I don’t get any answers. They understand the question and the consequences, but they look into the distance, their eyes glowing like the buildings on the west side that seem to have gold leaf embedded in their windows. Do they envision, I wonder, a time when, no matter how far one drives in any direction, there is always Houston? Like ripples on a pond, countless circles of concrete loops and node cities, separated by green suburban belts. Houston forever.
-from “Driving Around Houston” by James Crumley, collected in The Muddy Fork & Other Things (again)
