Westlake aims to maintain exclusive identity

By Tim Madigan

tmadigan@star-telegram.com

In January, the town of Westlake was snatched from relative obscurity by Forbes Magazine, which proclaimed it the nation's most affluent neighborhood.

Turns out that relative obscurity is what drew many Westlake's well-heeled residents to start with, so there was little celebrating over the national recognition.

"One of the things that attract people to Westlake was a sense of privacy, of being off the radar screen," Mayor Laura Wheat said. "If you're trying to remain off the radar screen, being named the most affluent doesn't meet your objective."

But such are the consequences of a successful decade when Westlake's population more than quadrupled, from 207 in 2000 to 992 in 2010.

Many of the newcomers were professional athletes like Texas Rangers superstar Josh Hamilton or entertainers like the Jonas Brothers. The celebrities were drawn to the rolling, leafy real estate in far Northeast Tarrant County, which is still more country than anything else.

In Westlake, as with Hamilton and the Jonas Brothers, the newcomers were generally wealthy and young. In Tarrant County, Westlake incomes are most comparable to Westover Hills, another tiny municipality on the west side of Fort Worth.

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, the median household income in both places is estimated at around $250,000. But whereas Westover is Tarrant County's oldest community, Westlake trends toward the youngest.

Westlake's median age dropped from 47.1 years to 37.6 in the last decade, and family size grew from 2.71 to 3.67. In many respects, Westlake officials say, the wealthy young families were drawn by Westlake Academy, the only municipally owned charter school in the state. The school, with about 500 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, offers the challenging International Baccalaureate curriculum for each grade.

Town Manager Thomas Brymer is also the superintendent of Westlake Academy and confirms the school's draw. "I see the applications of families moving here," he said. "A lot of them are definitely here because they want their kids to attend Westlake Academy."

When they come, residents typically move into multimillion-dollar mansions, such as those featured in the gated Vaquero development. The town also encompasses several corporate campuses that, with picturesque ponds and abundant trees, seem more like Zen monasteries.

Wheat says town leaders will fight to retain that exclusive flavor. They now negotiate with developers to try to stave off retail development and apartment complexes. They want Westlake to remain the bucolic haven so attractive to the nouveau riche.

"These people could choose to live anywhere," Wheat said. "Honestly, anytime that someone of a high-profile nature identifies your community, it's hard not to take pride in that."

Tim Madigan, 817-390-7544

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