You might have heard a thing or two about the growth of the Houston area. Well, it’s no mere PR spiel, Houston’s growth is epic, and it’s not slowing down.
A recent report by the Houston Chronicle looked at raw Census data and found that, to no one’s surprise, the Houston area is second only to New York City in the number of residents it has added since last year. However, there are two factors to consider: One, Houston’s city population has expanded at a slower pace in the past three years than those of Fort Worth, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, despite adding more total residents; two, Houston itself is not growing as fast as the rest of Harris County. It is, in fact, Houston’s suburbs that are recording the staggering growth of the region, helped in part, no doubt, by the city’s pending designation as the energy capital of the United States.
According to the Chronicle, Houston gained about 35,000 residents from July 1, 2012 to July 1, 2013, and now boasts total population to almost 2.2 million. That’s a growth of about 4.4 percent over the past three years. Meanwhile, however, Houston’s suburbs in Harris County increased by 6.7 percent in the same time period.
Part of the reason, the Chronicle explains, is Harris County's sheer size. The county is twice as large as the cavernous Dallas County and there are large expanses of undeveloped space for homesteaders to build on there. At the same time, Houston is seeing the exodus of its city population slow as efforts to revitalize the downtown and long, tedious commutes to the suburbs are keeping more existing Houstonians in place.
The city itself is growing in part because of good jobs in high-growth sectors like energy and healthcare, but also because these upgrades to downtown are making Houston a more resident- and visitor-friendly place to be. The Chronicle cites the city’s Metro bus system as evidence that Houston is becoming more of an urbanist utopia.
The biggest reason for the Houston area’s growth, of course, is the coming of ExxonMobil, which will bring 10,000 workers to the city’s outskirts over the next year. But don’t dismiss the expansion of programs at major schools like Texas A&M, which has its main campus just outside of Houston, in Bryan/College Station. New students, young people seeking a fresh start, and families looking to cash in on Houston’s growing reputation for entertainment and opportunities are all reasons the Bayou City is growing and growing, and creating one of the Lone Star State’s best city economies.
Posted by Richard Soto on
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