SAN ANTONIO — Not too long ago, the span of Interstate 35 in Texas linking San Antonio and Austin ran through a smattering of smaller cities and lots of wide-open land. Now, it’s a blur of subdivisions, commercial development and soul-crushing traffic, coalescing into a singular mass of population. “It is kind of mind-blowing,” said Travis Mitchell, the mayor of Kyle, a bedroom community outside Austin that is one of those fast-growing cities along the interstate. “With growth comes extreme challenges.”Census officials specifically pointed out New Braunfels, a suburb north of San Antonio, as an example of cities perched just outside large metropolitan hubs that had experienced some of the most significant growth, with their populations expanding by at least 44 percent. There were two others in Texas: McKinney, outside of Dallas, and Conroe, which had been enveloped by the sprawling Houston metropolitan area.

Source: New York Times August 12, 2021 19:07 UTC