The True Center of Houston

[bachanon]

sure does.

[ArchitecturalPRGirl]

You know, that's a good thing because there is lots more room to the east for growth. I-10 is already the worst nightmare, I avoid it like the plague. 45 is bad too but it just feels like there's more breathing room out there. I guess it will all suck in 20 years. Maybe we'll (I'll) be old and want to get out of the city like a lot of older people do. Maybe move to MARFA!

[KinkaidAlum]

It really isn't that surprising since you are talking only about Harris County. So much of Western Harris County is covered by land that cannot be developed like all the flood plain/park.

Also, many of the smaller towns in the area like the Memorial Villages are losing people. This is solely due to the fact that many of the home owners are now empty nesters. From 2000 to 2006, all of Bunker Hill, Hedwig, Hilshire, Hunter's Creek, Piney Point, and Spring Valley lost population. Together, these villages lost 802 people.

The only other incorporated towns in Western Harris County are Tomball and Jersey Village. Those two gained a combined 1,799 people from 2000 to the summer of 2006.

Meanwhile, Eastern Harris County is loaded with other towns. Here are the numbers for the growth (or decline) in population from 2000 to 2006.

2,428 Baytown

526 Deer Park

(181) El Lago

(169) Galena Park

1,617 Humble

127 Jacinto City

1,105 LaPorte

(189) Nassau Bay

6,252 Pasadena

1,690 Seabrook

69 Shoreacres

461 South Houston

2,113 Taylor Lake Village

101 Webster

[TheNiche]

It really isn't that surprising since you are talking only about Harris County.

Actually, we're talking about the old 8-county MSA, which is still the area for H-GAC's Regional Transportation Plan. Even if it were just Harris County, I would've personally thought that all the growth in the unincorporated areas would've far surpassed that of the cities over the time frame studied...but it isn't the recent housing growth that has primarily driven the trend so much as it seems to have been the demographic changes in existing areas.

[KinkaidAlum]

Well, the 8 county region isn't all that surprising either.

Fort Bend County gets all of the press, but there are several towns in Galveston County (Dickinson, Friendswood, League City, Santa Fe, Texas City), eastern Harris County (Baytown, Humble, LaPorte, Pasadena, Seabrook, Taylor Lake Village), eastern Montgomery County (Conroe, Roman Forest, The Woodlands), and eastern Brazoria (Alvin and Pearland) that are definitely shifting population centers to the east.

In raw numbers, Pearland grew by more people from 2000 to 2006 than Sugar Land (22,354 to 21,773). I am sure most people wouldn't have guessed that.