Census shows growth in western county
Go west, young man.
Powered by master-planned developments and a lower property-tax rate than similarly-sized communities, Mission was the county’s fastest growing city over the past decade, according to 2010 Census figures released Thursday. But neighboring cities in western Hidalgo County also saw massive growth, with Alton nearly tripling in population and Peñitas quadrupling in size.
Six cities in western Hidalgo County added a total of 42,597 residents, 29 percent of the total growth in the county’s cities. But those figures don’t include unincorporated areas — according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 70 percent of the county’s residents live in its 22 cities — in western county that also grew at a fast rate.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Joe Flores said the influx of residents into his precinct is traceable to the development of Sharyland Plantation, a development that began in 1998 and now includes more than 1,600 homes. As the citrus groves that once marked the landscape made way for development, the county’s western end experienced a population boom.
“The growth has been there for the last five or six years because there’s raw land and the infrastructure is there,” Flores said. “The developers are building subdivisions, so of course they’re going to sell.”
Mission, the home city of the Sharyland development, added 31,650 residents over the past decade to grow to 77,000 residents, falling just 42 residents short of the bragging rights for the county’s second-largest city. Edinburg maintained that status as its 59 percent gain in population pushed it to 77,100. Mayor Richard Garcia, whose city includes the fast-growing University of Texas-Pan American and an expanding medical industry, said Edinburg’s job growth in recent years has helped it move away from being a bedroom community.
With 129,877 residents, McAllen is Hidalgo County’s largest city and the second biggest in the Valley, behind Brownsville (175,023), but McAllen’s growth rate of 22 percent was behind its neighbors. Instead of growth, Mayor Richard Cortez said he believes McAllen is now emphasizing an improved quality of life and protecting the city’s commercial corridor.
Pharr was the county’s fourth-largest city with 70,400 residents. Weslaco was fifth with a population of 35,670.
As a whole, Hidalgo County grew to 775,000 residents, making it the state’s eighth-largest, falling about 8,000 residents behind Collin County. But Mission Mayor Norberto Salinas said he thinks the census missed residents throughout the county and that he expected his own city to be at least 87,000 residents.
Mission has benefitted the past decade due to a plan in set up in 1999, when Sharyland Plantation was just blossoming, that allowed the city to grow on all four sides, Salinas said. The city also has attracted businesses and residences with a property tax rate that is lower than its peers in Edinburg and Pharr.
“(The growth) has to do with what we’ve done in Mission and what’s happened in Alton and Peñitas,” Salinas said. “If something happens in Peñitas, it will happen in Mission. It’s all part of one community.”
With Sharyland Plantation and Bentsen Palm Development, Mission has been an extremely popular option for a range of people who have chosen it as the location to buy their homes and live, said Pat Townsend, the executive director of the Mission Economic Development Authority. When the 1989 freeze wiped out citrus groves in the area, property owners looked at subdivisions as an alternative.
Western county’s population gains have since followed, even though the La Joya Water Supply Corp.’s financial downfall led to more deliberate growth to ensure a reliable water supply, Townsend said. But while development was tempered as the master-planned communities were built out, there is still room to grow out west.
“We’ll continue to see opportunities in Mission because we still have available land and a favorable business climate,” Townsend said. “With the population that we’ve got and trying to draw businesses to the west, there’s still a potential there.”
