Americans are rushing to find freedom. Texas has become a major destination for people fleeing the big blue blob cities, and governors gone wild. The small city of New Braunfels, Texas, has been one of America’s fastest-growing as people flee the big urban metropolises. DNYUZ reports:
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — In the not-too-distant past, motorists driving along a stretch of Interstate 35 just northeast of San Antonio were met with vast fields of wildflowers and grazing cows in grassy pastures.
Today, the cattle are gone, replaced with clusters of sleek apartments, gated communities and big-box stores. And New Braunfels, the third-fastest-growing city in America, tucked in one of the fastest-growing regions, finds itself at a crossroads.
“People have found New Braunfels — the word is out,” said the city’s mayor, Rusty Brockman. “And I think we are going to continue to deal with this growth for a long time.”
A once quaint town known for its German roots and the Schlitterbahn water park, New Braunfels grew a whopping 56 percent over the last decade, adding about 32,500 residents.
It was noted by U.S. Census officials last week as an example of a city that experienced significant growth in its perch just outside metropolitan hubs — New Braunfels is between San Antonio and Austin, which also grew at blistering paces over the past decade. There were two others in Texas, a fast-growing state: McKinney, outside of Dallas, and Conroe, which had been enveloped by the sprawling Houston metropolitan area.
In many ways, the story of New Braunfels’s expansion is the story of a changing America.
As its population has boomed, with many new arrivals coming from big cities across Texas and states like California, Colorado and New York, the town also become more diverse. The Anglo population has dipped below 60 percent for the first time in recent decades, with Latinos accounting for about 35 percent of residents.
The sheer growth shows no signs of abating.
Action Line: If you’re like so many Americans who just want to raise their families in peace, but you can’t do that in the big city where you live, it’s time to look for a better America today.
