HOUSTON IS NO LONGER THE FASTEST GROWING CITY IN THE COUNTRY 
New Census Bureau numbers tracking population ins-and-outs between mid-2015 and mid-2016 have been released, Alexa Ura and Chris Essig note in the Texas Tribune this morning — and Houston is no longer in the number 1 spot nationally for growth among cities. Harris County as a whole, meanwhile, has also lost that top county population growth title (which it’s been defending for some 8 years) to Phoenix-containing Maricopa County in Arizona. The duo write that the growth that did occur in Houston itself was mainly from existing Houston residents having kids and from international immigrants moving in, while growth in Houston’s suburban orbit was more the product of migration in from elsewhere in the state and country; though the net population change was still positive, Harris County still lost around 44 people a day, probably in connection to the oil industry. [Texas Tribune] Map of Harris and surrounding counties: HGAC
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Texas Tribune? -rolling eyes-
To be fair, Arizona has 15 counties while Texas has 254.
ive been seeing lots of new york license plates on the road in the last few months, and a grouping of illinois ones lately. made me wonder if the migration is picking back up.
oops i meant to say california not new york.
Defending the population growth title? Really? I’m very happy not to be first in that particular competition. My nine mile drive to work already takes 30 minutes.
Good news and the oil biz is still contracting so don’t expect net migrations to turn positive for a long time.
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Now would of course be a good time to figure out a tax policy that allows city services to expand in equal manner to population increases.
@ TwoCents: regardless of how you feel about it, you can’t change population growth in Houston. But, if your 30-minute commute makes you unhappy, you can change that by moving or getting a different job.