Time to build a massive city in the Marfa-Alpine-Ft Davis area? (Dallas: buy, living in)

[turf3]

The best way this area can be used for the benefit of Texas is to leave it the heck alone.


There are actually valid land uses other than to contain giant cities.

[B00ST]

Originally Posted by PCALMike

This area is generally considered to have the best weather in the country outside of California, but it is not being properly exploited. What is the best way this area can be used for the benefit of Texas? Perhaps allowing gambling and create a massive gambling town? Or other ideas?

According to whom?

[TexasTallest]

Speaking of water and developing desolate areas... This story popped up earlier.

Lake Mead Hits Record Low Water Level | KJZZ

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by smuboy86

Not only that to rape the natural beauty of the area with human development would be a crime.

I could not agree more.

Originally Posted by turf3

The best way this area can be used for the benefit of Texas is to leave it the heck alone.


There are actually valid land uses other than to contain giant cities.

AMEN, AMEN!!! What is it with these people who seem to think 'massive cities', wall to wall people, etc. is the way we need to develop our entire country and live our lives. Ugh!

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by B00ST

According to whom?

No kidding.

I honestly don't think the OP has ever even been out there. It is an unforgiving land, barely hospitable. There's darn good reason that there ISN"T a major metropolitan area there.

[texasdiver]

Cities develop organically due to economic forces. Artificial cities in the middle of nowhere usually fail because they serve no purpose. Ever heard of Naypyidaw? Burma's bizarre capital: a super-sized slice of post-apocalypse suburbia | Cities | The Guardian

[eastontracks]

my wife and I just got back from that area about 4 hours ago lol. we made a quick weekend trip from SA. Ive wanted us to explore big bend/Marfa/McDonald observatory, etc all in like 4 days. Instead, we decided on Ft davis/Marfa/Alpine this weekend and give more time to big bend another day.

Anyway, this area's definitely interesting. im a supporter of legalizing gambling/casinos but I don't think its a good idea to try and change whats currently there. But... Marfa's an interesting place, and can see it growing substantially (maybe like 100k pop. ?) but the other cities are sleepy, quiet towns. Alpine does have a brewery, a small university I don't know much about so that could increase residents if Marfa also grows. Visited McDonald observatory and the guide mentioned something about the city lights nearby and the agreement they have with Ft Davis residents to keeping the region dark for astronomers. Growth in Ft Davis would definitely be frowned upon if that's the case.

Anywho, Marfa sure didn't seem like a town of just 2,000 with how it was last night. Lively atmosphere with people walking around. A very cool scene that I can see growing larger. It wouldn't surprise me if this place brings in more residents at fast pace.

[ChristieP]

The Spanish explorers called this part of the world "despoblado" with very good reason!

[txman210]

I'm going to revive this dead forum. After living in SoCal and loving the climate but being forced out by cost, I started looking for places with the most similar climates. I've lived the majority of my life in Texas. Summers have become too hot, even for me! However, I discovered what I call the ”Big Bend Triangle.” These are the cities of Marfa, Alpine, and Ft Davis. The climate is very favorable. Alpine has a level IV trauma center and a university. Ft Davis has the telescope, and Marfa has arts and culture. Others have stated water is a problem, however, the Edwards aquifer is only about 30-50 miles to the NE of Alpine. The state could invest by bringing water to the region. Combine this with some art and astronomy programs at SRSU, the move to remote work for many, and maybe native Texans finding the eastern portion of the state too hot, and you could have a new small metro in the 500k range.

As to the remote-ness, that could be a draw for some. Federal air service support to the Alpine airport would assist too. Previously commercial flights flew to Dallas and Austin. I don't see how maybe weekly flights to some of the other Texas cities couldn't be supported. Upgrades to US 90 would help too.

What I'm saying is, we have made decisions to invest in infrastructure to support places people want to live (think SoCal, AZ, NV). We could do the same in this region. I think there's great potential. As a plus, it's one of the few regions of the country predicted to be not largely impacted by warming temperatures.

[2nd trick op]

The dreamers propose,

and the market disposes!

Nothing more to say; leave well enough alone.