Texas-Big Population Growth in Texas

New Census numbers show Lone Star state rapid rise

The U.S. Census Bureau just reported that the Austin-Round Rock was the second-fastest growing metropolitan statistical area (MSA)* between 2007 and 2008. Its population jumped 3.8%, only outgrown by Raleigh, NC, which climbed 4.3%.

Overall Texas saw meteoric increases. (Top 100 fastest-growing MSA chart in downloadable Excel spreadsheet.) Thirteen MSAs saw increases across the state saw a total population rise of 2.3%, or 451,264 people.

The vast majority of those newcomers ended up in the Texas Triangle. In fact, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston took the #1 and #2 spot in the country for the most number of people added.

Overall Rank by % Growth	MSA	Change ('07-'08)	% Change
28	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	146,532	2.4
31	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	130,185	2.3
2	Austin-Round Rock	60,012	3.8
30	San Antonio	46,524	2.3
14	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	21,126	3
75	El Paso	12,093	1.7
37	Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood	8,180	2.2
45	Brownsville-Harlingen	7,831	2
29	Laredo	5,464	2.4
44	College Station-Bryan	4,226	2.1
72	Tyler	3,325	1.7
21	Midland	3,235	2.6
50	Odessa	2,531	2

On a county-by-county basis, 10 of the 25 counties with the largest total increase in population were in Texas. Furthermore, fully 19 of the 100 fastest growing counties were in Texas:

Overall Rank by % Growth	County	Texas Triangle Metro/Micro	% Growth
6	Williamson	Austin-Round Rock	6.0
8	Kendall	San Antonio	5.5
9	Rockwall	n/a	5.3
10	Hays	Austin-Round Rock	5.3
14	Fort Bend	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	4.8
19	Comal	San Antonio	4.7
21	Montgomery	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	4.5
24	Guadalupe	n/a	4.3
27	Collin	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	4.3
29	Kaufman	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	4.2
37	Andrews	n/a	4.0
43	Denton	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	3.7
47	Ellis	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	3.6
48	Ward	n/a	3.6
76	Wilson	San Antonio	3.2
79	Hood	Somerville + Granbury	3.1
85	Parker	n/a	3.1
95	Hidalgo	Athens	3.0
100	Travis	Austin-Round Rock	3.0

That means the Texas Triangle accounted for 87.6% of the entire state's population growth. DFW and Houston were nearly neck-and-neck, but the Metroplex edged out the Bayou City by attracting 32.5% of new Texans.

MSA	Share of New Texans
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	32.47%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	28.85%
Austin-Round Rock	13.30%
San Antonio	10.31%
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	4.68%
El Paso	2.68%
Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood	1.81%
Brownsville-Harlingen	1.74%
Laredo	1.21%
College Station-Bryan	0.94%
Tyler	0.74%
Midland	0.72%
Odessa	0.56%

Although it's great to be the state everybody loves, Texans already here are beginning to question the effects of so many more people will have on their way of life. .:.

St. Patrick's Architects

Mapping "green" commercial real estate in the Texaplex

In honor of St. Patty's Day, presented here is a list of the more than 300 commercial buildings in the Texas Triangle that have achieved Energy Star ratings.

Not included here are government buildings, K-12 institutions, and supermarkets. HEB has more than 187 Energy Star grocery stores across the 66 counties of the Texaplex, plus another 55 throughout the remainder of the state.

There are more than 6,000 buildings in the United States named on EnergyStar.gov site. Recently, Houston and Dallas were highlighted for being two of the top five cities by number of green buildings. .:.