Texas Triangle

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Texas Triangle Megaregion
Megaregion of the U.S.
Houston
Dallas
San Antonio
Country

 United States

State(s) Texas
Population 17,745,584 (2,010) [1]

The Texas Triangle is one of eleven megaregions in the United States. These are urban areas that are much greater in scale than just a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), defined by the US Census Bureau. These regions also are known as megapolitan areas. The term comes from the fact that the three main cities in the Texas Triangle are connected by a highway system Interstate 45, Interstate 10, and Interstate 35 that forms a triangle when connected.

The Texas Triangle contains 5 of the 20 biggest cities in the US, and is home to more than 70% of all Texans (pop 13.8 million).[2] In the next 40 years, the population of the Texas Triangle has been projected to grow more than 65%, or an additional 10 million people, leading to 78% of Texans living and working within the Texas Triangle. From a person's point of view, the Triangle is gradually becoming synonymous with Texas.[3]

The Triangle is anchored by the metropolitan areas of Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin. Additional MSAs in the region include Bryan-College Station, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood and Waco. There are a further so-called 12 micro-politan statistical areas. There are 66 counties altogether in the Triangle.[4] Sometimes, however, Beaumont, located east of Houston, has been considered part of the Texas Triangle. Burleson County, is the center of the Texas Triangle.

Other sizable metro areas in Texas not included in the Triangle are Corpus Christi, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Abilene, San Angelo, Laredo, Amarillo, and the Rio Grande Valley.

The definition of the "Texas Triangle" used by the Regional Plan Association also includes the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas in Oklahoma, plus connecting areas such as Stillwater.

The megaregion is defined in work by America 2050 and others. The area has also been called the Texas Crescent and the Texaplex.[<span title=""Texas Crescent" seems exceedingly rare and "Texaplex" more commonly refers to the DFW Metroplex (November 2011)">citation needed] Dr. Robert Lang of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech identified Dallas-Fort Worth as one of the earliest recognized megapolitans. Each city being very different and distinct from the other, Dallas and Fort Worth nonetheless grew together to form the urban area widely known as "The Metroplex."

A conference about the future of the Texas Triangle was held by Houston Tomorrow and America 2050 on September 24–25, 2009 in Houston.

The 60,000-square-mile (160,000 km2) region contains most of the state's largest cities and metropolitan areas as well as 17 million people, nearly 75 percent of Texas' total population.[5] The region is comparable to Florida in population size and comparable to Georgia by area. However, the Texas triangle comprises less than a quarter of Texas's total land area.

According to the University of Texas at Austin Center for Sustainable Development, "the Texas Triangle has three sides measuring 271, 198 and 241 miles in ground distance."[6]

Metropolitan areas

Image of the Texas Triangle at night from the International Space Station
Included in some definitions

Micropolitan areas

Included in some definitions

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/houston-region-leads-rapid-texas-triangle-megaregion-growth/
  2. ↑ http://www.dallasfed.org/research/houston/2004/hb0401.html
  3. ↑ Regional Plan Association (2008). America 2050: An Infrastructure Vision for 21st Century America. New York, NY: Regional Plan Association.
  4. ↑ http://www.texastriangle.biz/2009/02/megas-metros-micros.html
  5. ↑ Neuman, Michael; Elise Bright (May 2008). "Texas Urban Triangle: Framework for Future Growth". SWUTC/08/167166-1. Texas A&M University System. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 
  6. ↑ Kent Butler; Sara Hammerschmidt, Frederick Steiner, Ming Zhang (2009). "Defining The Region" (pdf). REINVENTING THE TEXAS TRIANGLE. Center for Sustainable Development School of Architecture The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas. p. 5. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Current Lists of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Definitions - U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Retrieved March 16, 2008.

External links

Coordinates: 30°40′N 96°50′W / 30.66°N 96.84°W / 30.66; -96.84

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