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City's growth raises diversity Telecom area credited for minority boost 03/15/2001 By Lesley Téllez / The Dallas Morning News
After a period in the 1980s of little growth, the city of Richardson ended the last decade with increases in population and diversity, according to census data released this week.
The city now has more than 90,000 residents, up almost 23 percent from 1990. That's slightly above the increase in Dallas County of about 20 percent but well below neighboring Collin County, which has exploded more than 86 percent in the last decade.
Diversity in Richardson has steadily increased during the last 20 years, the data show. In 1980, almost 95 percent of Richardson residents were white. That number has dropped to 75 percent, while the numbers of Hispanics, blacks and Asians have doubled, or in some cases, tripled.
"When you look at Richardson's growth in the '70s, it was seen more as bedroom community," City Manager Bill Keffler said. "Now it represents a more full-faceted reflection of a community that has a stand-alone economy."
Asians lead Richardson as the largest minority group, making up 11.7 percent of the population. That's more than double the number of Asian residents from 10 years before.
Hispanics represent the city's next-largest minority group, census data show. They now represent 10.3 percent of the city's population, up from 4.3 percent in 1990. The number of blacks has also increased. They account for 6.2 percent of city residents, up from 4.7 percent 10 years ago.
Additionally, residents in the "other race" category have more than doubled since 1990.
City officials attribute part of the minority growth to the burgeoning Telecom Corridor, which has developed mostly in the last 10 years. They say the area's high concentration of foreign-owned businesses bring international residents to the city.
At any of Richardson's major technology companies, "you go through a hallway and meet 50 people, probably 30 percent will be from all over the globe," said Ron Robinson, president of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce.
The technology businesses also have brought residents to neighboring cities in Collin County, Mr. Robinson said. Plano grew 72.5 percent from 10 years ago, according to census data.
Richardson's place as a land-locked city with no room for expansion prevented it from achieving those kind of increases, Mr. Robinson said.
One exception
An exception has been the city's Breckinridge area, in eastern Richardson in Collin County. It's one of the city's last sites of developable land, but it wasn't available for construction until the early 1990s, Mr. Robinson said. The area lacked roads and other infrastructure.
"Between 1980 and 1990, there was no land to build on," Mr. Robinson said. The city grew only 3.23 percent during that decade.
Breckinridge now supports 2,500 new housing starts, Mr. Keffler said. Three hundred of those sprouted last year.
The lack of space to build houses has brought a stronger emphasis on revitalizing older neighborhoods, Mr. Keffler said. City officials have passed measures on sidewalk repairs, median enhancements and other face-lifts, he said.
The population is expected to grow in this decade, although city officials are trying to decide where. They're researching development around the incoming DART light-rail line, Mr. Keffler said.
Census data also showed that the under-18 age group in Richardson increased by about 3,000 residents since 1990. Additional students also came from areas outside Richardson, but in the Richardson school district.
Strain in schools
Richardson Independent School District said the data didn't surprise them.
"We have been suffering a tremendous strain from student growth," said board secretary Anne Barab.
Board vice president Lanet Greenhaw said most of the student growth has been concentrated outside Richardson, in areas rich with apartments such as the LBJ-Skillman Street corridor and the Spring Valley-Coit roads area.
With the growth came changes. Four additional magnet schools were created in the 1990s. RISD officials have also tried to keep overcrowding at bay by adding classrooms – 20 additions came after the 1996 bond election – and building new schools. Two new Lake Highlands schools were approved in this year's bond issue, and another to alleviate the Spring Valley-Coit area crowding is still to be built from the previous bond election.
Lesley Téllez may be reached at 972-234-3198, ext. 132, and at .
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