San Austin metroplex??

[ajarreguin3]

Will San Antonio Texas and austin Texas become one just like DFW???... And if so will it be bigger and will it attract new media such as NFL MLB NHL?.. If so where would it rank among USA Metroplex's??

[Dariusb]

I think it's possible but not for a while though.

[rcp11889]

I don't think this would ever happen. First, they are a little far apart for that. But frankly, the biggest factor against this is that San Antonio and Austin both have distinct, unique identities and they are each self-supporting. There wouldn't really be a need for a metroplex between these cities.

Also, I don't think anyone should wish for this to happen as it would just encourage suburbanization and create huge traffic problems.

[desertpunk]

It's gonna happen. But at the same time, the area from Austin to Dallas will be filling in too. A 'SanAustin' metroplex may be just a prelude to something much bigger...

Originally Posted by rcp11889

I don't think this would ever happen. First, they are a little far apart for that. But frankly, the biggest factor against this is that San Antonio and Austin both have distinct, unique identities and they are each self-supporting. There wouldn't really be a need for a metroplex between these cities.

Also, I don't think anyone should wish for this to happen as it would just encourage suburbanization and create huge traffic problems.

The development pressures may come from within these chain communities like San Marcos more than from big city developers and their suburbanizing ways. Smaller towns and cities in Texas are just as eager to grab new residents and development as their larger kin. As they grow outward, they will fill in the geographic gaps and while their residents may not commute to either of the large cities, they will travel there to shop and enjoy sports and concerts. Meanwhile, neither Austin nor San Antonio will be subsuming their identities to the other but they will leverage their combined synergies to attract capital and investments just like Dallas and Fort Worth do.

[ardamir]

I used to commute from San Marcos to Austin nearly everyday, nowadays I live in San Antonio and head up to San Marcos every week.

Heading south from Austin, the Kyle-Buda-San Marcos area is filling out quickly. Many major housing developments were postponed or behind schedule due to the economy (Blanco Vista, Plum Creek). Huge housing developments and box stores. It is amazing how quickly the area has filled in since I moved to the area 4 years ago.

The gap between San Marcos and New Braunfels is not filling in at the same pace but there are some major developments. Pretty much the same story between New Braunfels and Schertz. Hays and Comal counties are attracting upscale, low-density housing developments around Canyon Lake and Wimberly.

Eventually the two cities will be similar to DFW but it will take decades. By then you would probably need to include Killeen and Temple.

[jonathaninATX]

Right now I live in Temple and everytime I go out there is always something new being built, I can just imagine what the growth will be like when they start the new Toyota Plant here. Also Kyle, Buda, San Marcos and New Braunfels are growing pretty rapidly as well.

[ajarreguin3]

Yes!! Hopefully it will... I live in San Marcos and the drive to San Antonio is completely filled except for San Marcos to new branfels... But other thing I don't get is that greater San Antonio consist of sa to new branfels and greater Austin consist from San Marcos to Austin.. I just wish they combined them already! That would be great

[rcp11889]

Originally Posted by ajarreguin3

Yes!! Hopefully it will... I live in San Marcos and the drive to San Antonio is completely filled except for San Marcos to new branfels... But other thing I don't get is that greater San Antonio consist of sa to new branfels and greater Austin consist from San Marcos to Austin.. I just wish they combined them already! That would be great

A lot of metropolitan areas touch each other. In Louisiana, Greater New Orleans and Greater Baton Rouge literally touch, but they will never combine.

But yeah, seriously, this will never happen. They are simply too far apart. And just because suburban housing development is growing along the interstate doesn't mean they will magically be a metroplex. There might be a continuous line of housing development along the interstate but a metroplex is a place where the economies of the cities are intertwined. And frankly, the word metroplex is a word made FOR Dallas.

Dallas-Fort Worth is just that...a single metropolitan area that was branded as a "metroplex". Fort Worth is simply a suburb of Dallas that has become a center of activity. If anything it would make more sense for say..Austin and Round Rock to become a "metroplex". Austin and San Antonio will continue to keep their identity and I just seriously can't see them conjoining into some megacity.

On top of all that, there will be a time when the spreading suburbanization will stop. I get it that Texas is growing and all but the way you all are talking it would seem that all of the eastern half of Texas, from Houston to Dallas to San Antonio will be one HUGE metroplexistan, and that is just not going to happen.

[ajarreguin3]

Originally Posted by rcp11889

A lot of metropolitan areas touch each other. In Louisiana, Greater New Orleans and Greater Baton Rouge literally touch, but they will never combine.

But yeah, seriously, this will never happen. They are simply too far apart. And just because suburban housing development is growing along the interstate doesn't mean they will magically be a metroplex. There might be a continuous line of housing development along the interstate but a metroplex is a place where the economies of the cities are intertwined. And frankly, the word metroplex is a word made FOR Dallas.

Dallas-Fort Worth is just that...a single metropolitan area that was branded as a "metroplex". Fort Worth is simply a suburb of Dallas that has become a center of activity. If anything it would make more sense for say..Austin and Round Rock to become a "metroplex". Austin and San Antonio will continue to keep their identity and I just seriously can't see them conjoining into some megacity.

On top of all that, there will be a time when the spreading suburbanization will stop. I get it that Texas is growing and all but the way you all are talking it would seem that all of the eastern half of Texas, from Houston to Dallas to San Antonio will be one HUGE metroplexistan, and that is just not going to happen.

Oh.. Makes a lot of sense now.. Thanks!

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by ajarreguin3

Will San Antonio Texas and austin Texas become one just like DFW???... And if so will it be bigger and will it attract new media such as NFL MLB NHL?.. If so where would it rank among USA Metroplex's??

Isn't the distance between them eighty miles? If so, I say they will never become one market. First, could an airport be built somewhere towards the center of the two metropolitan areas and close enough to serve both of them? Los Angeles is a metropolitan area one hundred miles across which is what San Anaustinonio would look like if the two became a similar type metropolitan area. But the mountains surrounding Los Angeles pretty much existed as stencil to help confine the creation of that huge metropolitan area. Also, in Dallas - Fort Worth, there are now three major freeways and numerous streets connected Dallas with Fort Worth along with many others connecting them indirectly.
And as a previous poster cited, the Austin metropolitan area seems bent on developing itself north and in a direction away from San Antonio.
However, I can see an impressive corridor developing between Austin and San Antonio.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by ajarreguin3

Oh.. Makes a lot of sense now.. Thanks!

Fort Worth is not a suburb. It has a population nearing a million. It has a downtown. It has its own hospital district. It has a zoo which is one of the best in the nation while it is located thirty-five miles from Dallas. Fort Worth has its own colleges. It has its own community college system. Fort Worth has a huge aerospace industry. It is headquarters for a huge gas field as well. It has a famed museum district. It has a large number of billionaires living in the city. It has its own freeway system including a loop. It is a major confluence for railroad lines. It has the hottest real estate in the nation when the economy isn't in recession while its population is growing faster than any other city in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. Fort Worth has its own drinking water. It has a culture which is more western than Dallas while it also has its own unique geography which is a higher elevation than Dallas while the city has more hills. It has its own school district. It has its own convention facilities with a city owned convention center hotel.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by rcp11889

A lot of metropolitan areas touch each other. In Louisiana, Greater New Orleans and Greater Baton Rouge literally touch, but they will never combine.

But yeah, seriously, this will never happen. They are simply too far apart. And just because suburban housing development is growing along the interstate doesn't mean they will magically be a metroplex. There might be a continuous line of housing development along the interstate but a metroplex is a place where the economies of the cities are intertwined. And frankly, the word metroplex is a word made FOR Dallas.

Dallas-Fort Worth is just that...a single metropolitan area that was branded as a "metroplex". Fort Worth is simply a suburb of Dallas that has become a center of activity. If anything it would make more sense for say..Austin and Round Rock to become a "metroplex". Austin and San Antonio will continue to keep their identity and I just seriously can't see them conjoining into some megacity.

On top of all that, there will be a time when the spreading suburbanization will stop. I get it that Texas is growing and all but the way you all are talking it would seem that all of the eastern half of Texas, from Houston to Dallas to San Antonio will be one HUGE metroplexistan, and that is just not going to happen.

As the cities of Lafayette and Baton Rouge are seperated by 24 miles of bridges of which the swamps below are now being utilized to handle the runoff from a flooding Mississippi River, the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans are seperated by similar bridges as the latter city averages 8 feet below sea level and is has to be completely surrounded by levees. Not just that, but tens of thousands of square miles in and around this area is actually below sea level or is quite swampy.
A suburban area for New Orleans will exist on a line stretching for eighty to a hundred miles along a highway with these arteries being built by constructing the highway by digging a huge channel in the middle or channels on each side and piling up the dirt on each side creating places for people to live.

[rcp11889]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

Fort Worth is not a suburb. It has a population nearing a million. It has a downtown. It has its own hospital district. It has a zoo which is one of the best in the nation while it is located thirty-five miles from Dallas. Fort Worth has its own colleges. It has its own community college system. Fort Worth has a huge aerospace industry. It is headquarters for a huge gas field as well. It has a famed museum district. It has a large number of billionaires living in the city. It has its own freeway system including a loop. It is a major confluence for railroad lines. It has the hottest real estate in the nation when the economy isn't in recession while its population is growing faster than any other city in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. Fort Worth has its own drinking water. It has a culture which is more western than Dallas while it also has its own unique geography which is a higher elevation than Dallas while the city has more hills. It has its own school district. It has its own convention facilities with a city owned convention center hotel.

I totally understand. I do realize that Fort Worth has its own identity and economy but still...I think just about everyone would agree that Dallas is the principal city in the area.

[rcp11889]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

As the cities of Lafayette and Baton Rouge are seperated by 24 miles of bridges of which the swamps below are now being utilized to handle the runoff from a flooding Mississippi River, the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans are seperated by similar bridges as the latter city averages 8 feet below sea level and is has to be completely surrounded by levees. Not just that, but tens of thousands of square miles in and around this area is actually below sea level or is quite swampy.
A suburban area for New Orleans will exist on a line stretching for eighty to a hundred miles along a highway with these arteries being built by constructing the highway by digging a huge channel in the middle or channels on each side and piling up the dirt on each side creating places for people to live.

I was just explaining to the OP that the official metropolitan lines touch even though they are not combined, since they asked why the Austin and San Antonio areas don't touch.

[rcp11889]

And honestly, I think most people that wish or expect these types of things to happen are just way too optimistic. Like I said before, the growth will have to stop eventually. Just because cities are growing fast does not mean that they will just grow and grow until they meet another city. Things like that don't happen. At the same time, everyone is so optimistic about growth in the urban core. So, which is it? Will cities continue to grow outward until some giant area is formed or will they see growth in the city themselves. I, for one, believe in cities, not suburbs.

[TU 'cane]

I know this is about San Antonio and Austin, but what about DFW reaching into Oklahoma? Serious discussion has been brought up that the northern part of DFW and other surrounding areas may reach into Oklahoma.

[TU 'cane]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

Fort Worth is not a suburb. It has a population nearing a million. It has a downtown. It has its own hospital district. It has a zoo which is one of the best in the nation while it is located thirty-five miles from Dallas. Fort Worth has its own colleges. It has its own community college system. Fort Worth has a huge aerospace industry. It is headquarters for a huge gas field as well. It has a famed museum district. It has a large number of billionaires living in the city. It has its own freeway system including a loop. It is a major confluence for railroad lines. It has the hottest real estate in the nation when the economy isn't in recession while its population is growing faster than any other city in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. Fort Worth has its own drinking water. It has a culture which is more western than Dallas while it also has its own unique geography which is a higher elevation than Dallas while the city has more hills. It has its own school district. It has its own convention facilities with a city owned convention center hotel.

Dallas is still the anchor city, though. People know Dallas, not Fort Worth. However, that is quickly changing. What's up with the big chip on the shoulder from Fort Worth lately? Starting to sound like OKCers.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by TU 'cane

I know this is about San Antonio and Austin, but what about DFW reaching into Oklahoma? Serious discussion has been brought up that the northern part of DFW and other surrounding areas may reach into Oklahoma.

If North Dallas did grow all the way into Oklahoma, figure the metropolitan area would have about 30 million people in it. Now if you are talking about just a corridor area between Dallas Parkway and Preston Road growing all the way to stretch into Oklahoma one day, it wouldn't surprise me.

[TU 'cane]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

If North Dallas did grow all the way into Oklahoma, figure the metropolitan area would have about 30 million people in it. Now if you are talking about just a corridor area between Dallas Parkway and Preston Road growing all the way to stretch into Oklahoma one day, it wouldn't surprise me.

I can't remember the specifics, I just remember it was mentioned on here before. I think it had more to do with suburbs such as Denton and Sherman depending on their growth. Or, perhaps the highway 75 corridor between McKinney and Sherman? Still, as you said, it would be a stretch. But, with current water issues going on, people may migrate north closer to the Red River along the border?

Back to the topic, how is New Braunfels growing? Steady at least?

[hudkina]

San Antonio and Austin will not merge anytime soon. Everyone who thinks otherwise needs to check out the massive urban expanse that runs between New York and Philadelphia and realize that even those two areas are considered separate. Now go and look at the land between San Antonio and Austin and realize just how impossible it is for a merger to occur in our lifetime if ever.