Texas' Loss, San Diego's Gain

US Navy shift towards Pacific reduces Texas' standing

A recent audio report by NPR details the strategic shift by the US Navy from a 50/50 split between Atlantic and Pacific, to a 40/60 split. Specifically Texas is effected by the transfer of a squadron of mine sweepers to San Diego, where it joins other elements of the US Pacific fleet.

The change in strategy is leading to billions of dollars of infrastructure investment in San Diego and San Diego County. Beyond Navy ship facilities, the Marines at Camp Pendleton are receiving upgrades. That would seem to indicate Southern California will not soon see the closure of that military installation. .:.

Land of the Large - Part III

Another reason to remember the Alamo

The Lone Star State is unique among the 50 states for its massive amounts of private property. That present-day situation had its origins more than 160 years ago when Texans won their independence from Mexico in 1836.

The newly minted sovereign country, the Texas Republic, was much larger than the current state’s boundaries, including parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and even Wyoming. When Texas agreed to join the United States it retained its claim to all that land, 352,030 square miles, under the 1845 Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States.

In 1850, the Lone Star state sold off 104,000 square miles to the federal government in return for about $12 million to pay off Texas’ debt. Under the terms of the deal, part of the Compromise of 1850, Texas retained ownership of all the remaining acreage not part of the transaction. (Interestingly, the state of Texas also kept its right to divide into up to four additional states—of convenient size—that are entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution.)

Even with all the ample land available in Texas, an interesting dynamic has emerged during the state’s growth. Nearly all urban and commercial activity has coalesced around five key hubs: Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Woth and Dallas. These five cities and their surrounding areas now contain the vast majority of Texas population and economic productivity. More on that Wednesday. .:.

Land of the Large - Part II

More than meets the eye

How can Texas be the largest state? That's because what we define as a "state" actually consists of hybrid of private property and government property.

According to various analyses, only 1.7 percent of Texas is federally owned. In square miles, that’s a big number… about 7,000 square miles (18,000 sq. km), but that’s nothing compared to other states. Close to half of California is federal government owned, and nearly 96 percent of giant Alaska is government-owned.

Viewed through this lens, then, California is not much bigger than Nebraska, South Dakota, or Oklahoma, and is smaller than Kansas. That is one reason California sports such concentrated metropolitan areas, where the density of people per square mile reaches into the thousands.

Federal land serves many purposes, of course. It can be leased, and sometimes purchased, for use by businesses, for grazing cattle, logging, searching for natural resources, etc., and national parks are tourism destinations. Nevertheless, government-owned land can severely impact development and growth of urban areas.

In land-challenged Southern California, some of the most expensive and desirable property in the world, about 250,000 acres, is occupied the U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton. It’s location could scarcely be more desirable.

The installation forms the northern edge of San Diego county, abutting wealthy Orange County to the northwest and southern Riverside County to the northeast. Professor Robert Lang of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, notes that Camp Pendleton is the main reason those three sprawling Californian counties have not joined together into one contiguous urban area, as has happened to the north in Los Angeles County.

Texans have their state's unique history to thank for their exceptional amounts of private property. More on that next Monday. .:.