|
Area's suburban surge no surprise to residents Tarrant County now 3rd largest in Texas; 3 others swelling rapidly 03/13/2001 By Laurie Fox / The Dallas Morning News
Tarrant County has become the state's third-largest county, and Collin County is its fastest-growing, census figures showed Monday.
Tarrant County surpassed the 1.4 million mark, and Collin County nearly doubled from 264,036 to 491,675.
Rockwall and Denton counties also are among the fastest growing over the last 10 years.
"The census count confirms what we already knew: Texas has grown dramatically over the past 10 years, and much of that growth has been concentrated in North Texas," said state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, who represents portions of Tarrant and Denton counties.
Population experts said Monday that the suburban surge around the Dallas area comes from people moving to Texas from other states and new technology companies locating to the area.
Tarrant County – home to a glut of industrial and technological companies around Alliance Airport in North Fort Worth – and the technology corridor in Richardson and Plano contributed to the gains, officials said. Tarrant County replaces Bexar County for third largest, with Harris still first and Dallas second.
"The suburban areas are accounting for 30 percent of the state's population growth," said Dr. Steve Murdock, chief demographer at the Texas State Data Center at Texas A&M University. "Suburbanization is clearly happening."
Dr. Murdock, whose center analyzes U.S. Census data on a statewide basis, said central cities in the state continued to grow, but suburbs absorbed most of the increase in population.
Northeast Tarrant County in general – particularly in Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville and Keller – has experienced steady and sustained growth within the last few years. Tarrant County's population grew 23.6 percent from 1.17 million in 1990 to 1.44 million in 2000. During that same period, Fort Worth's population grew 19.5 percent from 447,619 to 534, 694.
Nestled between the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and thriving Alliance Airport, area officials in the area say they have experienced the outward signs of rapid growth – more traffic, increased home appraisals, crowded schools – for years.
Rural roots changing
"I'm not surprised at all," said Ret Stansberger, president of the Colleyville Area Chamber of Commerce. "I see it in the number of phone calls and requests for information that we get at the chamber. Our phones are constantly ringing."
Southlake residents knew in the early 1990s that the city had entered a serious growth spurt when the number of new single-family homes built each year jumped from 500 to 700 and continued at that rate for several years.
When the dust finally settled, Southlake had crossed the boundary from rural to suburban. The number of residents, 7,100 in 1990, grew to 22,500 in 2000.
"It's not as if we woke up one morning and suddenly there were houses everywhere," Southlake spokesman James Kunke said. "We've been here, and we've seen it. Anyone who's been here a few months knows Southlake is growing."
In addition to the obvious needs for additional roads, parks, sewers and other city services, Mr. Kunke said, officials have had to work to accommodate three distinct types of residents: recent transplants who knew it was no longer a farm town; longtime residents who saw the growth coming and appreciated the changes; and others who moved to Southlake a decade ago for its rural feel, only to find themselves surrounded by new development.
Collin County residents experienced a similar shift in population, becoming the state's fastest-growing area due in large part to growth that extends into Allen, Frisco and McKinney and is no longer limited to Plano. The county grew by 86.2 percent.
"From 1980 to 1990, Plano was the hub of the growth," said Collin County Judge Ron Harris. "The real plus is that everyone is growing. It's more spread out."
State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said she believes this just the beginning.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg," she said. "Collin County, I believe, is going to see the same type of growth over the next 10 years."
Keeping up a challenge
The challenges of rapid growth are obvious, she said.
"We cannot build roads enough for the population," she said. "We're not able to build ourselves out of traffic problems. We must solve them with innovation."
In Rockwall County, the state's third fastest-growing, County Judge Bill Bell said area officials had predicted their population would be up by about two-thirds from the 1990 count.
Mr. Bell said being among the fastest growing is not necessarily something to be proud of. It is a fact that presents the county commissioners, city councils and school boards with a lot of tough issues, such as rising crime and traffic, he said.
"I don't think you should brag about the growth," Mr. Bell said. "If we can solve the problems that come with the growth, that's what we should brag about."
In Denton County, the state's fifth quickest-growing region, officials said they expect the continued growth will lure more interest from businesses.
"Companies coming in [to Denton County] want to tap into a workforce that doesn't want to commute any more," said Tye DeBerry, the county's economic development director. "People commute from Denton County to get to the higher-paying jobs in Dallas, but as Denton County grows, it can attract more corporate headquarters, which traditionally offer better-paying jobs."
Denton County Judge Scott Armey said that of the four largest counties in North Texas, Denton County is the only one without a major, leading city – such as Plano in Collin County, Fort Worth in Tarrant County and Dallas in Dallas County.
"Lewisville is right on [the city of] Denton's heels in terms of population," he said, adding that Flower Mound also continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. "We don't have a dominant city, but we do have very active, growing cities that are developing very distinct visions of the future."
Staff Writers Veronica Alaniz, Annette Fuller, Wendy Hundley, Jaime Jordan, Jeff Mosier, Jennifer Packer, Lori Price and Terri Williams contributed to this report. |
