Mischer News

The Lone Star State is far from lonely, amid the economic crisis in 2009 Texas had the biggest growth in population compared with any other state. Whether it is the stable housing market or lower unemployment rates, or the numerous activities and resources, more and more people are deciding to call Houston their Home.

“There’s no place to move other than Texas” - the sentiment of Karl Eschbach, Texas State Demographer of the University of Texas at San Antonio. While California, Nevada, and Florida populations increased due to immigration they had more of their residents relocate to other states than move in from other states. “In certain respects, Texas was the only state left standing during the last recession, so the competitors for migration kind of all went away,” said Eschbach.

Texas added 478,000 people to its population between July 2008 and July 2009. Some may ask how Texas has grown so much, but to Houstonites and residents of the local communities it is no surprise. The Housing market has stayed stable, without the dramatic increases and falls as other state’s markets. That’s not all, the unemployment rate in Texas was only 8% closing out 2009, compared to 10% nationally. This was supported by a study done by JuJu.com which found that for every job posted there are only 5.94 unemployed people.

According to Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University, growth is “a measure of our virtue and success.” With a population of 24.8 million, a population second only to California, Texas is showing great success. With this amount of growth Texas may gain four seats in the U.S House of Representatives.

Where some states might bulge with this kind of growth, the Houston area has room to grow, always looking to the future with planning and development. According to Klineberg there is a “consensus among the three leading candidates for mayor” all discussing the need for a “comprehensive plan to guide future growth.” Whoever is governing plans to ensure that Houston continues to be one of the best places to work and call home.