Is all this growth really a good thing? (Houston, Dallas: apartment complex, crime rate)

[As Above So Below...]

I’m personally more concerned about the growth trends in Houston than DFW. DFW has a good balance of domestic and international growth across all economic classes. Houston’s growth is starting to skew heavy from Central America. I’m all for them being here, but we need more balance.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by jd433

I was only responding to your claim that Dallas is the 4th largest metropolitan area and soon to be the 3rd largest.
Saying that Dallas is the 4th largest Metro area is a stretch. I think even all of central Florida is less than 10,000 square miles. Heck with that much land you could even add Seattle and Portland together and get 9 million people. The Distance from Caddo Oklahoma to Mineral Wells Texas is 166 miles. Huntsville to El Campo is 144 miles.

....We are the 4th largest going by msa numbers not csa...

I guess I'll post this again since you didn't pay attention the first time i posted it.

Metro DFW, because of its job growth and business-friendly environment, is on track to be the country's third-largest metro in population in the not-too-distant future, probably within a decade, Leppert said. "Chicago can't compete," he said, adding that it is all the more remarkable because Dallas doesn't have a port. That clearly hasn't proved to be a headwind in the modern economy, at least not for Dallas.

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/dallas-ft-wor...medium=Browser

[RJ312]

Part of DFW's growth is being caused by perceived deficiencies in conditions elsewhere. If things were ideal where people were moving from, DFW's growth would be less pronounced. I'm going to focus on domestic migration here.

Conditions in rural and small town America (towns with populations of less than 100,000) are at an all time low. Both political parties have done a poor job legislating to help the needs of rural Americans. In fairness to the politicians, some of the issues cannot fully be addressed with legislation. Opportunities are limited in rural and small town America. It's difficult to earn money via labor in an area with less than 100,000 residents and if an extended relationship happen with a high school sweetheart does not emerge, mating opportunities are challenging. Due to these issues, many rural and small town Americans have to leave for larger areas with greater employment and mating options.

As a whole, migration comes down to employment and mating.

With the exception of Oklahoma, Texas' neighboring states are a mess. Conditions are better in DFW or any of the major Texas metros than what exists in Arkansas, Louisiana, or New Mexico. There is a decent amount of migration from the neighboring states to DFW (as well as other Texas metros). It isn't costly to pack up from those states to come to Texas, and DFW attracts many of them. Those states are small potatoes compared to the elephant in the room.

The elephant in the room is California. Like the neighboring states, California is a mess. Unlike those states, California is quite populated and in certain ways, more of a mess than those states. California is a paradise of high taxes, homelessness, and illegal immigration.

To slow the growth in DFW and Texas as a whole, California, the Northeast, and neighboring states need to improve conditions in their home states to retain their residents.

[UnfairPark]

Well, instead of debating over spilled milk and pointing fingers at each other, we should be brainstorming to find useful solutions.

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

This second language thing doesn’t make sense at all. We get immigrants from almost every country, it doesn’t matter they are coming from India, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Norway or Somalia, everyone has to learn English to function here but somehow Hispanics are exempt from this rule. Instead, rest of us are being forced to learn Spanish. It’s not that English is somehow better or worse but it binds us all together. This is official language of this country, why can’t Hispanics learn it for official purposes? It’s not like they are somehow less capable of learning another language than rest of the immigrants. They are as good as the next person.

I doubt this is benefiting them greatly, on the contrary it’s creating a second class citizen tier for Hispanics who aren’t learning English. They are getting exploited in many ways.

While English is far and away the predominant language, the U.S. has no official language.

Also, many Hispanics who come to the U.S. and refuse to learn English don't care about their lack of English skills making them second class citizens by U.S. standards; to many of them, being a second class citizen in the U.S. is STILL far better than being a citizen in their respective countries that they come from.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by Julio July

While English is far and away the predominant language, the U.S. has no official language.

Also, many Hispanics who come to the U.S. and refuse to learn English don't care about their lack of English skills making them second class citizens by U.S. standards; to many of them, being a second class citizen in the U.S. is STILL far better than being a citizen in their respective countries that they come from.

Yup. English isn’t officially official but practically it’s a moot point. As far as those Hispanics not caring for equal rights, if we are taking them in then they should have to meet requirements and we should support them in aiming for an equal status. It’s USA, not India with a cast system. All humans are equal.

[tcualum]

I used to work as a librarian at Irving Central Library. An outside group offered ESL classes there and when they had class sign up you would have sworn it was Black Friday at Best Buy given the lines. There were always far more people interested in signing up than there were slots.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

I’m personally more concerned about the growth trends in Houston than DFW. DFW has a good balance of domestic and international growth across all economic classes. Houston’s growth is starting to skew heavy from Central America. I’m all for them being here, but we need more balance.

Do you have a breakdown of growth by "economic class", specifically when it comes from migration?

Also keep in mind Houston only lost domestic migrants the past two years (about 9k each year). It gained anywhere between 20k-90k annually the 12+ years prior to that. In other words, this "imbalance" is actually just a blip. Also I think Houston's Hispanic/Latino immigration numbers have finally started to show balance and not skew heavily towards Mexico.

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

Without immigration, we are losing population.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-a...ic-stagnation/

The problem is we aren't building enough homes because NIMBY homeowners want to drive up the value of their home. People have all the wrong incentives. If you oppose all new growth you get less traffic and artificially drive up home values.

On the flip side, boomers leaving their homes (retiring, death, etc.) will accelerate very soon so there are going to be a lot of homes available on the market in 10 years.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Oh...so you rather Dallas be like Austin and not address the rapidly growing population.....just because its better to be a small town with small town infrastructure......I totally disagree.

To be a healthy fast growing city you have to grow with the population....simple as that.

I don't know where you got that. Maybe you just felt like ranting pointlessly.

Thoughtful, graceful expansion of roads, infrastructure, commercial properties, and residential properties instead of politicians selling out to developers who put up slapdash craphole efforts, cramming whatever wherever so they can make their quick buck...

Wth does that have to do with Austin?

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by DabOnEm

On the flip side, boomers leaving their homes (retiring, death, etc.) will accelerate very soon so there are going to be a lot of homes available on the market in 10 years.

It will be really interesting to see what happens when the boomers start dying off. I wouldn't hold my breath about homes dropping in value...if they did so it would most likely reflect a decline in population.