Which major Texas metropolitan area is prepared to handle growth next 30 years the best (Houston: living, cost of living)

[gabetx]

Wow.... $23 for water?! I think its good when my water bill is $85.

[majicdonjuan]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

Yeah, if you look at the metro areas population in the last 25 years it had not been consistent with Houston in the lead, losing it, retaking it, losing it, etc.

I think it is because Houston had had these major drivers that gives them huge population boosts.

Dallas job market is dependent on population growth, which is dependent on job market, which is dependent on population growth.

Houstons job market is not dependent on the growth of its population. In fact, Houston is lagging in keeping up with its job potential. The chemical industry, oil and gas medical industries are not yet being exploited to their fullest. Investment in these will create an even rosier job market. Lets not forget globalization, and trade. Read that Houstons port activity growth was the strongest last year. There is lots to exploit with the panama canal expansion and the blossoming economies of mexico and South america.

In the end, Houston is the one better prepared to provide jobs, and thus it is better prepared for the future.

Houston and LA can cripple DFW if they start handling more and more of their processing and distrubution. DFW is highky dependent on these two sending them goods from their ports.. Kinda like how they were dependent on FW for sending them cattle to stay alive back in the day.

Come to think if it Dallas has always been dependent on other cities sending goods. They were dependent on San Antonio and Houston also for sending them cotton back in the day

That's a good point. And it got me to thinking...

I think the 3D printers of the future have the potential to further swing this balance away from DFW. Why? DFW is a transportation, distribution, and logistics hub. My own personal opinion, as well as the opinion of a growing number of people, is that 3D printers are going to completely change the nature of manufacturing. Instead of traditional methods of manufacturing, 3D printers will allow additive (e.g. building based on layers) manufacturing at a lower price, which will in turn allow a lot more manufacturing at the point of use. This takes a lot of freight throughput, and thus, a lot of money out of the DFW area. This will hurt Houston to an extent as well, but since so much of its transportation economy is based on petroleum and energy (which can't, at least for the foreseeable future be manufactured by 3D printing) it wouldn't be of the same magnitude.

The more I think about it, the more I think that DFW will probably need to come up with some other niche (on top of solving future water issues) in order to keep up with Greater Houston over the long term. DFW has the space and capacity, but doesn't appear to have the same sort of long term drivers that Houston does.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by majicdonjuan

That's a good point. And it got me to thinking...
The more I think about it, the more I think that DFW will probably need to come up with some other niche (on top of solving future water issues) in order to keep up with Greater Houston over the long term. DFW has the space and capacity, but doesn't appear to have the same sort of long term drivers that Houston does.

And keep in mind Houston has just as much space and capacity too

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by gabetx

Wow.... $23 for water?! I think its good when my water bill is $85.

I would have to have a major main line water leak to run up that kind of bill

It was only about 10 years ago however that my total bill was less than $10. Then it went up to $13 a couple years after that, then a couple more years it went to $17. Then came the so called "Rain Tax" and the bill is now just under $23. The Rain Tax is levied on all water users including churches and government users such as schools and county and state buildings (I think all those can apply for exemptions) and hopefully will fund flood control projects that will keep us relatively dry! lol

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

I would have to have a major main line water leak to run up that kind of bill

It was only about 10 years ago however that my total bill was less than $10. Then it went up to $13 a couple years after that, then a couple more years it went to $17. Then came the so called "Rain Tax" and the bill is now just under $23. The Rain Tax is levied on all water users including churches and government users such as schools and county and state buildings (I think all those can apply for exemptions) and hopefully will fund flood control projects that will keep us relatively dry! lol

obsession with water

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

I would have to have a major main line water leak to run up that kind of bill

It was only about 10 years ago however that my total bill was less than $10. Then it went up to $13 a couple years after that, then a couple more years it went to $17. Then came the so called "Rain Tax" and the bill is now just under $23. The Rain Tax is levied on all water users including churches and government users such as schools and county and state buildings (I think all those can apply for exemptions) and hopefully will fund flood control projects that will keep us relatively dry! lol

Yeah that is really high. $85 is what i pay for electricity, or my cable and internet but not water.
Heck that is more than cell phone bill

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

Yeah that is really high. $85 is what i pay for electricity, or my cable and internet but not water.
Heck that is more than cell phone bill

You paying 85 for electricity?!?!? Lucky lol

[gabetx]

Wow! $85 for electricity? During the summer I pay over $200. This month is the lowest it has ever been for me, $95, thanks to the recent cool weather.

Water bills in my city are about to go up another $7 a month when this street user fee is put into play. Seeing a $110 water bill is not uncommon for me. That's because I only rent a 1300sf home, no pool or hot tub, one bathroom, and a sprinkler I don't use due to water restrictions.

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[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

You paying 85 for electricity?!?!? Lucky lol

Yeah. In the summer it gets to over $100. I think i am capped at $150. Can't go over

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by gabetx

Wow! $85 for electricity? During the summer I pay over $200. This month is the lowest it has ever been for me, $95, thanks to the recent cool weather.

Water bills in my city are about to go up another $7 a month when this street user fee is put into play. Seeing a $110 water bill is not uncommon for me. That's because I only rent a 1300sf home, no pool or hot tub, one bathroom, and a sprinkler I don't use due to water restrictions.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

$110???? Where do you live? Shlitterbahn????