Progress is exciting. Have you looked around when driving up and down Ferdon Boulevard? There are all sorts of buildings and clearings of land. Crestview is growing with new businesses.
While I remain excited about all of the new opportunities we will have for eating and shopping, I do mourn the loss of so many trees.
It is sad that trees have to be destroyed in order for us to have shopping centers. Trees are important, as they absorb carbon dioxide and then release oxygen for us to breathe — a rather large benefit for those of us who enjoy breathing.
They also help clean our air; their leaves and bark absorb impurities; and trees moderate the temperature. In the summer, I always look for a tree to park beneath so my car stays cooler.
I have mixed emotions about losing trees for commercial gain.
It is interesting to watch the progress on the new shopping center being built on South Ferdon Boulevard next to Publix.
And, at the north end of town, construction has started at the corner of Airport Road and North Ferdon Boulevard for, from what I understand, a new Publix.
I would still like to see a store such as Kohl's or Dillard's come into town, but it doesn't seem as though we have the population they need to build.
I think a department store would do well in Crestview, but am not sure how we would handle the traffic problems that would come with a larger shopping outlet.
It would be nice to keep the sales taxes that would come with such a store here in town, and I would prefer to spend my money here rather than in Destin or Fort Walton Beach.
We seem to have lots of talk and studies about traffic and how to relieve it, and nothing is accomplished. We need some real traffic relief now, not after hundreds more houses and businesses are built.
While I look forward to the progress, I don't look forward to more traffic jams.
Please work on the traffic flow in Crestview!
Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: With Crestview's growth come tradeoffs