Sustainable Growth in North Texas: Vision North Texas
Eight of the 15 fastest-growing large U.S. cities and towns for the year ending July 1, 2012 were in Texas, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Lone Star State also stood out in terms of the size of population growth, with five of the 10 cities and towns that added the most people over the year.
Even within North Texas, the population of the ten-county Dallas-Fort Worth region is expected to grow from approximately 5.1 million in 2000 to 9.1 million in 2030, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). Tremendous pressure is placed upon the North Texas region land and natural resources to support the massive population increase. To mitigate the strains that will develop as cities expand, and to maximize the potential economic opportunity that well-managed cities can offer, North Texas needs a proactive approach to addressing the challenges of urbanization.
Business as Usual
Business as usual’ means additional infrastructure to support the economic growth, but with the current depletion of resources, government and private investments cannot keep pace with growing demand. For example:
- For supporting transportation infrastructure, the anticipated investment of almost $71 billion between 2007- 2030 only results in 66% more hours lost to travel delay in 2030 and a congestion cost of $6.6 billion (compared to $4.2 billion in 2007).
- In 2050, existing water supplies are not sufficient to meet the needs of this urban area and North Texans will need 21% more electricity production capacity than is currently available.
- The region is expected to lose 900,000 acres of agricultural land, as well as substantial areas of natural habitat. The amount of impervious surface in the region (buildings and pavement) will double, increasing runoff and affecting water quality in streams, increase in urban heat island effect. More than half of the new households will live in the watersheds of the region’s water supply lakes, affecting the water quality of these lakes and the drinking water they provide.
Vision for Sustainable Growth
Vision North Texas 2050 is a private, public and academic partnership headed by Charter Sponsors the Urban Land Institute, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the University of Texas at Arlington. Created to serve as a forum for dialogue and action about the challenges of accommodating a significant amount of future growth in a way that is both sustainable and successful, it is supported by the generous contributions of numerous private and public-sector sponsors.
The Vision North Texas partnership began its work by hosting a regional visioning workshop, held in April 2005 at the University of Texas at Arlington. This workshop brought together a diverse group of nearly 200 stakeholders from across the region to discuss alternatives to the pattern of urban growth currently projected for the area.
The forum operates under these 12 guiding principles:
- Development Diversity
- Efficient Growth
- Pedestrian Design
- Housing Choice
- Activity Centers
- Environmental Stewardship
- Quality Places
- Efficient Mobility Options
- Resource Efficiency
- Educational Opportunity
- Healthy Communities
Achieving this North Texas 2050 Vision requires a shift in thinking from the business as usual. The twelve Guiding Principles give decision-makers additional insight into the future envisioned through this process, but they provide a very broad description of this direction. Policy recommendations that relate to particular parts of this development pattern and investment framework are presented to support the physical development plans. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is leading an effort to involve cities, towns and counties in development and utilization of a watershed-based Regional Ecosystem Framework for the development of future infrastructure plans including Mobility Plans, water/waste water plans, open space or trail system plans, the use of natural assets as ‘green i