AUSTIN, Texas — Texas' two biggest metropolitan areas – Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land – could be getting a run for their money in the next few decades.
What’s being referred to as the Austin-San Antonio Metroplex is expected to grow by three million more people by 2050.
“By 2050, the region will have 8.3 million people,” Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton, said at an event hosted by the Texas Tribune on Wednesday. “We're going to grow by three million more people between the northern parts of Austin, through Austin, San Marcos, New Braunfels and San Antonio.”
Cisneros said that population growth of 8.3 million people is larger than the current metro populations of Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
With this major population growth expected, leaders say they're going to have to work together to connect the two Central Texas cities.
Many commuters like Robert Walcott already split their time working and living in both cities. He lives in Austin but commutes to work in San Antonio almost every weekend.
"It's usually about an hour and 20 minutes, an hour [and] 30, depending on traffic,” Walcott said. “Coming back in the evening, it's between an hour and 40 to two hours depending on traffic again."
City leaders believe the most obvious way to better connect Austin and San Antonio is to create a high-speed rail.
"That's the kind of big vision that would be a game changer and allow workers and goods to flow between the region,” Ed Latson, the CEO of Opportunity Austin, said at Wednesday's event.
Walcott said he loves his job and won't be quitting or moving due of his wife’s job in Austin, so he believes a high-speed connection could help him out.
"If I didn't have to worry about all the miles that I'm putting on it, that kind of thing,” Walcott said. “It’s plus if you're tired, you don't have to worry about, ‘Okay, am I being safe on the road?’”
But mobility isn't the only issue leaders are looking to address with the expected massive growth.
Leaders are also analyzing whether there will be enough sources of sustainable water. Austin and the surrounding areas have struggled with exceptional drought conditions over the last few years, which have resulted in low lake levels. Leaders say they'll begin looking at more integrated water management systems that would implement more conservation measures and ways to recycle water.
Another consideration leaders are looking into is maintaining green spaces while new land is being developed.
Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, the president and CEO of Greater:SATX, said that her group conducted research on the target audience moving to the region, finding that the main criteria for them to relocate somewhere was their access to green space.
“These are important things for livability, for people who want to come set up an office park, green space is really important,” said Mike Kamerlander, president and CEO of Greater San Marcos Partnership.
Another concern with a larger population is having enough housing, let alone affordable housing. Leaders say housing supply is an issue, and local governments should attempt to speed up the process in which housing is being built.
“The best way to affect affordability at scale, is to focus on supply,” said Jonathan Packer, president and CEO of the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce.
With all the new people moving for work purposes, leaders say training and educating people about available jobs is absolutely crucial.
"They have to realize that this is a career path, right you can make a great living, get access to health care, benefits etc. for your family, and ideally break down generational cycles of poverty,” Saucedo-Herrera said.
Saucedo-Herrera also said the collaboration between different local governments and municipalities to tackle all these growth challenges is going to be difficult. She believes economic development organizations should take the lead on these efforts.
“We represent the region, we represent product development, the product that we're selling, and we represent growth in the region, and so we need to play more of a leadership role in that regard,” Saucedo-Herrera said.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.