Waco to have 400,000 by 2050. Is this even possible? (Houston, Dallas: homes, public school)

[TXTwizter]

There was an interesting article in the Waco paper Sunday about how city leaders are pursuing a plan to attract almost 200,000 new residences to the Waco MSA (McLennan County) by 2050. Is this even possible? Especially since they want to bring some 80K residences in a 7 square mile area around downtown. If you do the math, that is a very dense area in an area that is mostly single family homes. Where are these people going to come from, better yet, where are they going to work. If anyone is familiar with Waco then you know that good jobs are hard to come by.
Now I agree with the 200K increase by 2050, but 80K of that DOWNTOWN? I just don't see it.
IMO if this is going to happen, Waco needs to attract high paying "good" jobs, improve its public school system, possibly establish a 4 year state university, and most importantly, quit letting Baylor "rule the roost". They are the main reason Waco isnt any bigger than it is now.
Is this goal even possible or is it just another "pipe dream" the city leaders have cooked up?

Waco leaders have grand plans for downtown's future (http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/10/19/10192008wacdowntown.html - broken link)

New Waco subdivisions are to get more sidewalks under revised city ordinance (http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/10/22/10222008waccouncil.html - broken link)

[Muhnay]

Well maybe they plan to attract some new business to the area, that would employee these two hundred thousand new people. Well with birth rates, illegal and legal immigration to the country, I don't think having 200k more people is so far off, besides they have 40 years to pull it all off. Plenty of time.

[loves2read]

the question is how will they SUSTAIN that level of infrastructure--think of all the resources that many people will need--electricity, water--roads--
what type of businesses will come that will pay people enough so that the tax base will grow and make those types of changes affordable...
that is the question
cheap businesses bring little to no real support to the infrasturcture--more jobs are not necessarily better jobs...
they better get their heads straight

[Mark Senior]

Well, gee. That's just 5,000 per year. That "ani't" no reach/stretch, geez - that is for the whole county - you must keep that in mind not in the city - unless they plan to annex the whole county - not a dream - however, the July 1, 2007 estimate (latest available by the census bureau) is 228,000 for the county so really less that 5,000 per year but the growth rate is needed. However the growth rate has been around 2,000 per year for the county since 2000. So a 100% per year gain over todays growth rate is required.

[ZeroTX]

But will it ever live down the image as "Wacko" Texas? Home of David Koresh?

[TXTwizter]

Home of David Koresh? It will probably live that down eventually. Wacko Waco has been used by locals LONG BEFORE Koresh became a household name.

[case44]

400,000 by 2050? It is possible, but remember, we're talking 2050 here, not 2010. Yes, Waco would have to attract a corporation or two, plus anyone else willing to bring their business, but it can be done. It's all going to depend on what Waco wants to bring to their area. The city needs to have a vision and a goal to make it work, plus infrastructure and all the other things. If it's done the right way, then they can achieve that goal.

[Saintmarks]

With the sprawl of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and even Austin getting to be more of a headache than a benefit, it would make for a better overall region if the second tier cities grew at a higher rate and the big guys would slow down a bit. Collin County has certainly gained that growth in less than a decade.

As one having to face more and more traffic everyday, I'm all for the Wacos, Beaumonts, Corpus Christis, Lubbocks, Wichita Falls, etc, etc to grow a little more and us a little less.

[daisybear]

I've seen shirts in town that say "Keep Waco Wacko" much like the "Keep Austin Weird" ones.

[TXTwizter]

Originally Posted by daisybear

I've seen shirts in town that say "Keep Waco Wacko" much like the "Keep Austin Weird" ones.

Yeah you can get them at Bear Mountain.

The Bear Mountain