For most of the last century, Tyler was a sleepy East Texas town, a “well-kept secret”, for many Texans. That has changed considerably in the past few years, with new residents, businesses, and subdivisions. Although not usually drawn to statistics, I recently had the pleasure of hearing Gary Maler, Texas A&M’s director of strategic planning & qualitative research speak and was fascinated. Gary is a man in the right position, obviously he fascinated by facts and figures, and many of the REALTORS® in the audience were struck by one of his stats: in the next 30-40 years, Texas’s population will double, and 92% of that increase will be in the area east of I-35. That’s where we live and work.
Growth is a blessing, but are we prepared for this? Tyler 21 is a group working to create a comprehensive plan for all this growth. Notable aspects of the plan include:
- Establishing Tyler as the Capital City of East Texas, as its downtown, its medical, educational and cultural center
- Creating a strong downtown that serves as a vibrant meeting place for Tyler and the region
- Reinvesting in established neighborhoods including preserving historic districts and incentivizing growth in disinvested neighborhoods
- Building a strong and cohesive open space network linked by bike paths and trails that provide access to the entire community
We moved to Tyler to enjoy a quieter atmosphere and will hope that, even with all the projected growth, we can continue to do so.
[Kirsten Gavin, at KETK, turned in a report on February 4th, 2015, with more interesting stats on East Texas growth. You can see it here.]
