This is the first edition of a new monthly Man on the Street portion of The Sealy News where Austin County residents and visitors have an opportunity to voice their opinion on a variety of topics. Interviewees were selected through opportunity sampling; participants were approached throughout the community and agreed to answer a question on the spot. This month’s question was:

What are your thoughts on rapid growth coming to the Austin County community?

“I think it’s great. I think the prices of houses will go up. Profits and everything will go up. I think more people are going to come here, which sucks because I like the small town. I am excited overall.”

Alexus Roads, Sealy

“I don’t like it. To be honest, I know that we need jobs here and stuff but I don’t like it because I don’t want it to turn out like Katy. I like the country life and that’s why I moved from California (to) here.”

Marisol Nunez, Sealy

“Personally, I think that it’s a little bit better for the community but I know there’s a lot of people that want to stick to the historical Sealy. There’s a lot of history here; murals (are) getting torn down and things that are getting built – Starbucks, Taco Bell and all the things that they are planning on putting here. I like that I don’t have to drive all the way into Katy to get to all of those places. Hopefully the value of my house will go up.”

Polly Rosberg, Sealy

“I like it for Sealy. Sealy is small, small business and it’s a small world for everybody. I like seeing new people, and for my business too. I’ve had my company for a long time here in Sealy. (Growth) is good for me, it’s more customers – more money for Sealy. More business is good for everybody.”

Fernando Diaz, Sealy

“Well, I wish we had more fastfood places here like Popeyes – I like Popeyes – and Wendy’s. We don’t really have any good restaurants except Tony’s.”

Lucy Canik, Cat Spring

“I like the way things are growing because of some of the things that (we’ve) got, but I don’t like the traffic. Extra traffic, I’m not crazy about that. As far as the stores and restaurants, I think that would be great.”

David Krafft, Sealy