Time to build a massive city in the Marfa-Alpine-Ft Davis area?

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by PCALMike

it is not being properly exploited.

Does it need to be exploited?

Originally Posted by PCALMike

What is the best way this area can be used for the benefit of Texas?

Leave it alone and leave California out of it.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

If we do get another major Texas city, I’d expect it to be an existing city that’s far away from a major metro to be its own but close enough to get the pull of the region. Perhaps Denton or Conroe

[NigerianNightmare]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

If we do get another major Texas city, I’d expect it to be an existing city that’s far away from a major metro to be its own but close enough to get the pull of the region. Perhaps Denton or Conroe

Both of those cities I think will hit 400,000 people given time. I think Georgetown, McKinney and New Braunfels might be other ones. There’s a thing with county seats that are near major cities get the benefit of having massive ETJs, but the suburban growth of Texas needed to fuel their explosions.
But I think your 100% on the money with what you’ve said.

[rruff]

The OP's reason for mentioning Marfa-Alpine-Fort Davis is because it has an excellent year round climate... unlike the rest of TX.

In this age of "remote work" that might make it appealing as a place to live for some. I believe the biggest things holding it back are that the current population is too small (<10k in the biggest county in the state), and the associated amenities too sparse, and it's too remote.

Ruidoso, NM which also has a great year round climate (but about 10 degrees cooler), seems to have recently gotten on the radar and is booming. This has always been more of a resort/tourist town which helps... there is a casino, ski resort, many golf courses, famous horse race track, surrounded by forest and public land, plenty of shops and restaurants, even a Walmart which Alpine lacks. Alamogordo is 50 miles away and Roswell 75, which has cheap connecting flights to the Dallas hub. Anyway, remote workers from TX have really bid up the price of RE in Ruidoso recently, and there is a lot of luxury home construction.

If you build it will they come?

I think Alpine is too lacking in many ways for big investors to try to give it a boost. Just too many things need to be in place before it would be viable... but who knows?

[WestGuest]

[quote=PCALMike;44110221]This area is generally considered to have the best weather in the country outside of California,



Who said that it has the best weather? When you make a statement show your sources. My guess is that you havent been outside of Texas..ever.



Building a city there is equally foolish but you can read the responses for that.

[rruff]

Originally Posted by WestGuest

Who said that it has the best weather? When you make a statement show your sources. My guess is that you havent been outside of Texas..ever.

January avg high of 60. July avg high of 90. Generally sunny all year, low humidity. Sounds nice to me!

Here is the city data page: https://www.city-data.com/city/Alpine-Texas.html

[txman210]

Originally Posted by rruff

The OP's reason for mentioning Marfa-Alpine-Fort Davis is because it has an excellent year round climate... unlike the rest of TX.

In this age of "remote work" that might make it appealing as a place to live for some. I believe the biggest things holding it back are that the current population is too small (<10k in the biggest county in the state), and the associated amenities too sparse, and it's too remote.

Ruidoso, NM which also has a great year round climate (but about 10 degrees cooler), seems to have recently gotten on the radar and is booming. This has always been more of a resort/tourist town which helps... there is a casino, ski resort, many golf courses, famous horse race track, surrounded by forest and public land, plenty of shops and restaurants, even a Walmart which Alpine lacks. Alamogordo is 50 miles away and Roswell 75, which has cheap connecting flights to the Dallas hub. Anyway, remote workers from TX have really bid up the price of RE in Ruidoso recently, and there is a lot of luxury home construction.

If you build it will they come?

I think Alpine is too lacking in many ways for big investors to try to give it a boost. Just too many things need to be in place before it would be viable... but who knows?

I find the information about Ruidoso quite insightful. However, NM ranks far behind TX in terms of taxes, healthcare, and education, which Alpine does much better than expected in.

[rruff]

Originally Posted by txman210

I find the information about Ruidoso quite insightful. However, NM ranks far behind TX in terms of taxes, healthcare, and education, which Alpine does much better than expected in.

Whether NM has higher taxes or not will depend on your situation, but they are generally higher than TX, and have better benefits for poor people.

Healthcare and education vary a lot by location; always need to check the local offerings. I've been told the HC isn't great in Alpine, and it's 220 miles to El Paso.

One thing I like in NM is the free access public land with lots of BLM and NF, which doesn't exist even in Brewster County TX. One thing that is better in Brewster County, is the ease of living cheaply off grid with little or no code inspections.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by orl.avila

I went throught in 2014 in those towns, very beautiful. It's not necessary to build any city there, in that case, I'd consolidate cities like Laredo and Odessa-Midland.

This. You don't need to suddenly build up the Alpine area, with a lot of sprawl that locals don't want. What the heck was with this thread?

If you want bigger city and west Texas, maybe look at El Paso? The locals more than likely DON'T want fast growth, happening to Alpine, Marfa, Fort Davis, etc. Considering how fast Austin has grown over time. Same with like Nashville.

Finally there are NO flights to this area, unless you travel to(per Flightconnections) Midland or El Paso. The latter airport sees more flights. The Sunset Limited train has an Amtrak stop in Alpine, but trains only stop 3 days a week.

This is a really stupid idea the OP posted, for a thread.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by txman210

I will clarify; I'm not promoting this or saying it will happen. I am merely agreeing with the OP that it would be possible, and that it is uniquely positioned going forwards.

with enough money almost anything is possible. Is it a good use of resources which are limited? Hell no