Will Greater Houston stretch into Greater Austin or even San Antonio? (Dallas: college, subdivisions)

[jtothemak]

Originally Posted by micmac99

Some of the southside suburbs of Dallas are becoming desirable locations for African Americans with a little money. Duncanville, DeSoto.

And is Houston expanding north of The Woodlands and Kingwood? What impact will ExxonMobil have in that regard?

Although I strongly feel metro Austin and metro Houston will become a megalopolis within 25 years, especially if Austin keeps growing eastward and Houston keeps growing westward. East Austin traditionally is the "hood" but my ex-wife and son live in a subdivision in Williamson County that was so new it took Google a couple years to include it in the street view. People keep talking about places like Manor as a hot new area for Austin to grow into.

I hope places like Brenham on the 290 corridor are preparing to explode with growth. I can easily see it being a bedroom city like Casa Grande, AZ, which has become a major suburb of both Phoenix AND Tucson being halfway between them on I-10. Tons of new homes and commercial development and the only thing that stopped it was the housing crash.

Casa Grande, AZ boomed because it is a retirement community. People flawk to AZ during the winter and Casa Grande is a perfect location being out of the "big city" but yet close enough for a short drive. Also it is the first city you come too after Indian Reservation after leaving the Phoenix Area. People do not come to Houston to escape hard winters.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

How many miles do you think Houston will stop growing away from the center? 80 miles? 90 miles? 100+ miles?

Can't see it sprawling further than the current exurbs.

[HtownLove]

don't know if it will be Houston and Austin metros in that area but the development will certainly grow into each other.

The Austin metro and Houston metro isn't that far apart. There is only one county, 1, uno, un, singularo county separating Houston and Austin.

Fayette County separates Austin County in the Houston Metro and Bastrop county in the Austin Metro.

I believe all these areas will grow into each other.
Will it be one metro or multiple?? we will see.

As for SA, I don't think it will be in our lifetime. Fayette and Gonzales county separates Greater Houston from Greater SA.

Houston and Dallas are Separated by Madison, Leon, Freestone and Navarro Counties. Houston will be more connected to Beaumont, College Station and Austin loooong before we see the GH -DFW link in the TT completed.


Oh, I expect a lot more growth to take place in the lower gulf areas. Along Matagorda and Brazoria counties. I nkow hurricanes have devastated these areas, but I think they will return to being in favor in the coming decades

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

How many miles do you think Houston will stop growing away from the center? 80 miles? 90 miles? 100+ miles?

Originally Posted by annie_himself

Can't see it sprawling further than the current exurbs.

the two of you are thinking along the lines of a one employment center metro.

what the hell does the center have to do with anything if you work in TW???

TW is A center, so is the energy district, so is TMC so is Sugarland, so is Greenspoint, so is the ports.

You have to ask yourself how far are people going to want to commute from these areas, not no darn center. Screw the center

[SouthernBoy205]

How far do you think?

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by micmac99

Does anyone foresee the growth in places like Fayette County and the far reaches of Fort Bend, Richmond, Rosenberg, et al, to get to the point where the Houston area, for all intents and purposes, extends into the Austin area, or even to the point of bedroom communities along Hwy 71 rising up to serve Houston, Austin AND San Antonio???

Have you ever driven between Houston and San Antonio?
Katy to downtown = 30 miles = 2900sq miles
Schulenberg (midpoint to SA) to downtown = 90 miles = 25500 sq miles.

That means that Houston's radius would have to get 3 times bigger
and Houston's area would have to get almost 10 times bigger.

Let's assume that it would be the same for population (10 times bigger)
Houston's population would have to go from 6 million to 60 million.
The next question is.... do you really think that Central Texas has enough water for all those people?

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

the two of you are thinking along the lines of a one employment center metro.

what the hell does the center have to do with anything if you work in TW???

TW is A center, so is the energy district, so is TMC so is Sugarland, so is Greenspoint, so is the ports.

You have to ask yourself how far are people going to want to commute from these areas, not no darn center. Screw the center

True but I don't think the trend of suburban life will continue like it has the past few decades. Trends change and we are seeing people move back into the cities.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

True but I don't think the trend of suburban life will continue like it has the past few decades. Trends change and we are seeing people move back into the cities.

not in Texas.

Originally Posted by Dopo

Have you ever driven between Houston and San Antonio?
Katy to downtown = 30 miles = 2900sq miles
Schulenberg (midpoint to SA) to downtown = 90 miles = 25500 sq miles.

That means that Houston's radius would have to get 3 times bigger
and Houston's area would have to get almost 10 times bigger.

Let's assume that it would be the same for population (10 times bigger)
Houston's population would have to go from 6 million to 60 million.
The next question is.... do you really think that Central Texas has enough water for all those people?

It doesn't have to be 10 times bigger if the growth keeps to the highways.

Austin and SA are connecting but the actual population between the two are still rather small. (just a few hundred thousand).
It would probably take about a million to connect SA- Houston. The distance between the two is about double the distance between SA and Austin.

Further, the development from Houston is already to Sealy which is in Austin County. So the Growth we are talking about is pretty much between Sealy and Seguin. which is about 100 miles. On the way, it is gonna meet areas like Luling which is in the Austin metro area.

[HouTXmetro]

Interesting being that Houston Metro has reached Prairie View/Hempstead already which I never thought would happen. I just think it will take a good 20 more years to completely fill in. But with College Station growing who knows. If the Golden Triangle exploded I could definitely see Houston Metro connecting to Beaumont Area. With all the oilfield jobs, I'm struggling to see why Beaumont isn't bigger than what it is now. That city has a lot of potential being so close to Lousiana, the Gulf and Marshlands/Swamps. very scenic.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

not in Texas.

Really? The developments in the loop aren't beginning to outpace the suburban subdivisions yet but I think there's a point where people will stop moving further away from the city and commuting.