Population Hotspots of Texas

In the 20th anniversary issue of the Real Deal magazine this spring, the remarkable surge of Texas exurbs is described in an article (https://therealdeal.com/magazine/national-april-2023/sultans-of-sprawl/) focusing on local developers as well as major national builders such as Lennar. It’s headlined, “Sultans of Sprawl,” but don’t expect snark even in this entertaining real-estate publication. An even-handed account of what is drawing the many relocations to Texas from around the country is readable enough. The focus here is on the new communities surrounding the state capital, Austin, and lining I-35 to Dallas and San Antonio. Three of them are among the five fastest-growing places in the U.S. Austin itself has flowered as a tech center, but its politics skew left, and many of those moving to its periphery prefer orderly environments along with their lower land costs. These “pocket communities,” as developer Ari Rastegar notes, are self-contained economies that bring a “futuristic suburbanism” that typical city enthusiasts don’t embrace (try a main street called Ronald Reagan Blvd.) but homebuyers evidently do. “You’re going to watch us take this blueprint all across the United States,” he promises. Surely, this new life isn’t for everyone, and the story notes the obvious externality of highway traffic congestion from growth, but anyone blind to what’s selling in the Sunbelt is not understanding a part of our changing America.