DFW region still among fastest growing in nation

After both of their employers cut their pay, Jess Grady and Josh Mauldin packed up their home in Las Cruces, N.M., in late 2013 and moved back to Fort Worth for better job opportunities and to be closer to family.

“We never thought we would come back, but he got a really great job offer here,” said Grady.

Now Mauldin, an architect, has steady work, and Grady’s graphic design and photography business is growing. In addition to being able to afford their very first home, the couple discovered another perk to moving back to Tarrant County: 2-year-old son Rivers can spend lots of time with grandparents and extended family.

“It’s been really good,” Grady said.

The Mauldins aren’t the only family who’ve recently made Tarrant County their home. New U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday show that Tarrant County ranked 10th last year among the nation’s counties with the largest number of new residents, gaining 31,000 people between July 2013 and July 2014.

Three other Texas counties ranked higher. Harris County took first place with an estimated 89,000 new residents. Bexar County came in No. 6 with 34,000 new residents, and Dallas County ranked No. 8 with 33,000 new residents.

“In Texas, all of the large metropolitan centers are growing phenomenally, rapidly, and have been in the last decade and this new decade,” said Steve Murdock, a sociology professor at Rice University and former U.S. Census Bureau director.

“Tarrant County is one of several counties in Texas experiencing that growth.”

Two metropolitan areas of Texas — the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington region and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land region — were the only two in the entire country to add more than 100,000 residents in the 2013-2014 time frame, Census estimates show.

In addition to the number of births outpacing the number of deaths, Murdock said, people moving from other states and countries for economic opportunities are responsible for rapid growth in Texas’ metro areas.

“The energy boom has been one driver of that,” Murdock said, noting that the latest population estimates were taken before domestic oil prices fell and layoffs began in energy-related companies.

“If there is any potential dark cloud on the horizon that might have some effect on the rate, it would be the downturn in the energy market.”

Four Texas metro areas are in the top 20 for fastest rate of growth: Austin-Round Rock was third, Odessa fourth, Midland ninth and Houston 11th.

North Texas regional planners are mapping long-term strategies to keep pace with energy, water, transportation and other needs.

“We have no reason to believe, if the past dictates the future, that we won’t continue to see the type of growth we’ve seen over the past 40 years,” said Mike Eastland, North Central Texas Council of Governments executive director.

“Growth is good but growth puts demands on you. We will have to be very creative with how we deal with those demands.”

With limited funding and access to right-of-ways that would be required to expand the region’s transportation facilities, Eastland said, workers and employers will have to make adjustments to avoid commuting gridlock.

“Our projections are we are going to see congestion double in some part of the region simply because you can’t keep up with this type of growth with the transportation facilities,” Eastland said.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region’s location, transportation access and weather are among the reasons it is an attractive place for businesses and families to relocate, Eastland said.

“Being in the central part of the United States, having the airport we do and the road network we have all play into it,” Eastland said.

“You don’t have to stay home on many days of the year because of the weather. There are a lot of opportunities to have a productive workforce. We are in a great place.”

Affordable land, good schools and conservative values were what drew Tim O’Hare to Tarrant County.

Last spring, the former mayor of Farmers Branch moved his family from Dallas County, where he had lived his entire life, to Southlake. O’Hare said he and his wife wanted lots of space for their three kids and their dogs to play, and they found land to be far more affordable in Southlake.

“What we could get here compared with Dallas County was unbelievable,” said O’Hare, a lawyer and real estate investor.

The kids are in a premier school district, and the pace of life in Tarrant County has been a pleasant change, he said.

“The pace in Tarrant County seems to be slower, and I mean that in a good way,” O’Hare said. “The people are less in a hurry, it’s less crowded. It seems more down home.

In Southlake, you can live in the country and be right next to all the city amenities, which we really love.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "DFW region still among fastest growing in nation."