Fort Worth population tops 700,000
#1
Posted 26 June 2008 - 03:57 PM
Fort Worth population tops 700,000
BY BRYON OKADA
Call it a move back to normal growth.
After years of astronomical single-family home-building north of Loop 820, Fort Worth’s population has now reached 702,850, according to new estimates released Thursday by the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
It’s a milestone — Fort Worth’s population exceeded 700,000 for the first time — but it’s tempered by indications that some locals are shifting away from buying new homes in outlying neighborhoods and toward apartment rentals in neighboring Dallas.
After six consecutive years as the region’s growth leader, Fort Worth added 16,000 residents — 3,850 fewer than Dallas. With more apartments available and a more mature urban transit core, Dallas added 19,850 new residents.
Last year, Fort Worth added 22,750 residents, compared with 7,650 in Dallas.
It’s not the real estate equivalent of doomsday in the ‘burbs yet. Still, outlying North Texas cities are not growing as they did a decade ago, said Duane Dankesreiter, manager of research for the council of governments.
“That’s really the story — things have slowed down, but not below what we would expect,” Dankesreiter said. “With the housing market and builders slowing their construction, that changes some of the numbers. In the city of Fort Worth, there were a lot of units built over the last year and some of them were vacant.”
After years of hyper-growth, experts called it a return to a “more normal rate” in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Also, with economic factors being what they are, homes closer to jobs in Dallas are more attractive than ever.
What should be surprising, said Bernard Weinstein, director of the Institute of Applied Economics at the University of North Texas, is that the smaller Fort Worth outgrew Dallas for as long as it did. (Percentage-wise, Fort Worth’s 2.33 percent growth is still larger than Dallas, at 1.55 percent, and is the highest among big cities in the region.)
“That was partly because Fort Worth has done a lot of annexation and Dallas hasn’t,” Weinstein said. In particular, annexations to the north allowed Fort Worth to direct its residential growth during a period of increased building.
That the rate is coming down now is merely a function of the large inventory of homes in the area and the national economic slowdown.
“Remember, one year or one month doesn’t constitute a trend,” Weinstein said. “I think the growth prospects for the region are as positive as they’ve ever been.”
However, both Dankesreiter and Weinstein said it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see that next year’s population growth largely mirrors this year’s more modest gains.
“I can’t see it changing too much,” Dankesreiter said.
Population estimates for the region: www.nctcog.org/ris/demographics/population.asp
#2
Posted 27 June 2008 - 07:04 AM
After six consecutive years as the region’s growth leader, Fort Worth added 16,000 residents — 3,850 fewer than Dallas. With more apartments available and a more mature urban transit core, Dallas added 19,850 new residents.
Seems to me we should focus even more on building more urban living options and improving transit, then.
--
Kara B.
#3
Posted 27 June 2008 - 10:38 AM
After six consecutive years as the region’s growth leader, Fort Worth added 16,000 residents — 3,850 fewer than Dallas. With more apartments available and a more mature urban transit core, Dallas added 19,850 new residents.
Seems to me we should focus even more on building more urban living options and improving transit, then.
We're at least doing it big on West 7th. I would like to see Lancaster, Berry, Main and other drags get the same treatment.
#4
Posted 27 June 2008 - 12:56 PM
#5
Posted 27 June 2008 - 01:20 PM
#6
Posted 27 June 2008 - 08:40 PM
Better Business Bureau: A place to find or post valid complaints for auto delerships and maintenance facilities. (New Features) If you have a valid gripe about auto dealerships, this is the place to voice it.
#7
Posted 28 June 2008 - 01:26 PM
#8
Posted 29 June 2008 - 10:21 PM
#9
Posted 30 June 2008 - 11:37 PM
Still the same. Any ranking would have to be based on statistics for all the [ranked] cities using the same methodology and the same time frame - like the census statistics. These numbers were only for north Texas cities so there's not necessarily any comparable statistics for other cities.
#10
Posted 01 July 2008 - 11:11 AM
#11
Posted 10 July 2008 - 08:14 AM
The Census Bureau released its' population estimates for July 2007 this week and it looks like Fort Worth did indeed pass Memphis to become the 17th largest city in the US.
Memphis drops a spot in new Census estimate
By Tom Charlier, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Of the nation's 262 cities with at least 100,000 people, Memphis was among 75 that lost population between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, according to Census estimates released today. Here are other population estimates and the percentage gain or loss:
Overtaken by yet another Texas town, Memphis continued slipping in rankings of the nation's largest cities last year, falling from 17th to 18th as its population dropped by some 3,300 residents, new Census estimates show.
Fort Worth, part of the booming "metroplex" also encompassing Dallas, surged past Memphis with a gain of nearly 30,000 residents that pushed its population to 681,818. Memphis, meantime, saw its estimated population drop from 677,345 to 674,028 during the 12-month period ending July 1, 2007.
As recently as 2002, Memphis was the nation's 16th-largest city, but a spate of technology-fueled growth and other factors propelled Austin, Texas, past it.
Link to full story
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also has a story today
Fort Worth, 3 other Texas cities in top 10 of growth list
While the US Census estimate is for July 1, 2007, I'm assuming that the population estimates released by the North Central Texas Council of Governments are for June 2008?
BTW, one of the Austin stations also had a story that gave the exact number of increases.
Cities with the largest numerical increase from July 2006 to July 2007
Houston -- 38,932
Phoenix -- 34,941
San Antonio -- 32,680
Fort Worth -- 29,453
New Orleans -- 28,926
New York -- 23,960
Atlanta -- 20,623
Austin -- 17,648
Charlotte -- 17,471
Raleigh -- 15,148
Fort Worth's really gaining on Austin.
#12
Posted 11 July 2008 - 09:59 AM
The Census Bureau released its' population estimates for July 2007 this week and it looks like Fort Worth did indeed pass Memphis to become the 17th largest city in the US.
Memphis drops a spot in new Census estimate
By Tom Charlier, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Overtaken by yet another Texas town,
I have no beef with Memphis. I just want to take on the one in the 9th spot!
#13
Posted 14 July 2008 - 09:51 AM
The Census Bureau released its' population estimates for July 2007 this week and it looks like Fort Worth did indeed pass Memphis to become the 17th largest city in the US.
Memphis drops a spot in new Census estimate
By Tom Charlier, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Overtaken by yet another Texas town,
I have no beef with Memphis. I just want to take on the one in the 9th spot!
Me too!
#14
Posted 14 July 2008 - 11:19 AM
I would have thought Fort Worth would be more interested in taking on the city in the 8th spot. (Austin) What's so special about overtaking Charlotte - the city in the 9th spot?
#15
Posted 14 July 2008 - 11:37 AM
I would have thought Fort Worth would be more interested in taking on the city in the 8th spot. (Austin) What's so special about overtaking Charlotte - the city in the 9th spot?
Dallas is 9th nationally.
#16
Posted 16 February 2011 - 07:23 PM
Better Business Bureau: A place to find or post valid complaints for auto delerships and maintenance facilities. (New Features) If you have a valid gripe about auto dealerships, this is the place to voice it.
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