Aug 05
Austin is One of the Fastest Growing Cities in the Nation
According to new data from the US Census Bureau, Austin’s population grew by 18,000 new residents between July 2006 and July 2007. This makes Austin the eighth fastest growing city in the US during this year. Houston led the pack with 39,000 new residents.
In July 2007, Austin’s population stood at 743,074, a growth of 2.4 from 2006. Many of the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the city of Austin showed significant growth between 6 percent and 25 percent, many in the 11 percent to 25 percent range. This increase in population offers opportunities as well as posing challenges for managing and controlling the growth.
Within Texas, four suburbs around Austin made showed significant growth during the year between July 2006 and 2007, and were numbered among the 25 fastest growing cities in the state. Cedar Park ranked 11th, Round Rock was 16th, Georgetown came in at 19th and Pflugerville was 22nd.
The growth has slowed, due in part to the real estate meltdown that, while hasn’t been as significant as the rest of the country, still has had a small impact on the Austin area economy, and the state as a whole. Even so, Betty Voights, executive director of the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) declares that, “while fewer people may be moving here now compared to the last few years, we’ve seen five cities in the region double in population size over the last five years regardless of the housing downturn.”
