The rural landscape that once rolled past on the drive between Austin and San Antonio is no more, as homes, industrial facilities and retail centers have largely filled in the open spaces along I-35.
The three biggest cities along the route that are closest to Austin — Kyle, San Marcos and Buda — have been at the forefront of that boom. And they're still growing.
During this year's Austin-San Antonio Growth Summit, which was held Sept. 17 in New Braunfels and sponsored by the Austin and San Antonio business journals, their city managers participated in a panel regarding that growth, as well as what they'd like to see from the development community and more. Here's a snippet of the discussion:
Buda aims to balance small-town charm, rapid growth
With just over 16,000 residents, Buda was the smallest of the cities represented on the panel. That could change quickly, however, as homebuilders have been targeting Buda, along with some major employers and industrial developers.
Buda City Manager Micah Grau said the city views itself as essentially being in the "teenage" stage because it's in the process of trying to catch up to what has been rapid population gains. Much of Buda's effort has been focused on providing city services, with a new city hall, a new library and investments in its park system to ensure it retains its quality of life.
Transportation is among the priorities, Grau said, because Buda needs new routes to alleviate traffic and also must expand capacity of existing roadways. It also has been urbanizing formerly rural roadways by adding sidewalks and bike lanes. Grau said partnerships, such as with Hays County, other cities and the state, are important for the effort.
That being said, Grau said the biggest need typically has been affordable housing. But with 3,000 housing units planned for construction over the next 15 years — and on the heels of another boom that started in the early 2010s — that need isn't as strong as it once was. What's needed now is more retailers, he said.
"That's a big driver of our economy and our budget each year," he said. "We're heavily dependent on sales tax, so the more sales tax generators we can bring the better. We want to capture those sales tax dollars in our community."
Other needs include high-end manufacturers and distributors to fill more than 3 million square feet of industrial space that's coming online — projects that Grau said required no public financial incentives because of the city's proximity to transportation routes. Buda also is looking for boutique hotels to provide a more elevated experience for visitors to the city's downtown. The next focus will be on redevelopment.
"A lot of the easy-to-develop land is now developed, so the parcels that aren't developed have challenges with them," Grau said. "So we need partners that are willing to take on those challenges."
State's pie capital has been on a tear
Nestled between Buda and San Marcos, Kyle is the fastest-growing of the three cities and has now eclipsed 63,000 people — and it's also the second-fastest growing city of its size in the entire United States.
Kyle City Manager Bryan Langley said its next steps are about creating "destination areas that people want to go to." That includes things like its brick-and-mortar district, Project Two Step, a sportsplex that's under consideration, parks, and an effort to rebuild downtown.
"That's a big part of what we're trying to do to make Kyle an attractive place for people to come all hours of the day — that nightlife, restaurants (and) livable area that you can go to," Langley said. "Place-making in the downtown area is something we're going to be really focusing on. We feel like downtown is going to be one of those developments that will help us really activate that entire part of the city."
Transportation also is "a huge focus," Langley said, estimating that $400 million in transportation projects are underway, as well as hundreds of millions more that's being spent to extend roadways, alleviate freeway traffic and better connect big mixed-use and destination projects.
The effort includes the city's Vybe Trail, a multi-modal route planned to run through the city. Kyle is looking for developers to partner with that value mixed-use, density, diversity of housing and more, while also emphasizing walkability, biking and carting.
"We're looking for people that can help us make those strategic connections," Langley said. "Partnerships are really key for us — working with developers who see a greater vision."
Balancing growth, environment key for San Marcos
San Marcos is unique to the region in many ways. At more than 70,000 people, its population is bigger than the other cities, and it's also home to Texas State University, one of the largest universities in the state. In addition, it has a bevy of natural attractions, such as the Guadalupe River, so its growth hinges on protecting environmentally sensitive areas.
"We need to be sure that the growth that we're having is more intentionally strategic," City Manager Stephanie Reyes said. "So that's something that our City Council and our staff has really worked really well to make sure that, yes, we may not be getting the growth in business that some of the neighborhood communities are, but that's because we're also trying to make sure we're being very intentional about what that growth looks like."
More specifically, options include an additional grocery store, as the city has issued a standing financial incentive to lure a new one to the city. Other priorities include a new city hall, more family-friendly entertainment and partnerships with developers to both preserve and grow downtown. But it all must be done with the environment in mind.
"Having that commercial development, having light industrial, clean industrial, things that are not going to impact the environment" is important, Reyes said.
Still, she said, the city ultimately is going to need more housing, estimating that tens of thousands more units will be needed by 2050 based on current growth trajectories. It will be the city's job to provide the infrastructure to support it, such as roads, public transit, parks, trail systems, water resources, events and more, she said.
"For us, quality of life is really, really important," Reyes said. "Our council has done a strategic plan to really make sure that we're keeping the main things (in mind) — especially when it comes to growth — because we need to make sure that those amenities and the things that people love about San Marcos, that we don't lose those things."