THE TEXAPLEX is the triangular region in Texas anchored by the metropolitan areas of Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, where nearly 75% of the population lives. Highways form the sides of the triangle, each one averaging 230 miles in length. The Texaplex contains less than a quarter DALLAS–FORT WORTH of the land mass of Texas. AUSTIN HOUSTON SAN ANTONIO Texans don’t lie... We just think bigger. –Unknown Texan 6 7 TEXAS IS BIG If the entire 7 billion population of the world moved to Texas, there would be 1,100 square feet of space for every man, woman, and child on the planet. That’s more space than what New York City dwellers are already used to. I love Texas because Texas is future-oriented, because Texans think anything is possible. Texans think big. –Phil Gramm US Senator 24 25 IF TEXAS WERE A COUNTRY, IT WOULD BE THE 14th LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD.* According to Forbes, if Texas were a nation it would rank as the 6th largest oil producer in the world, exceeding 3 million barrels of oil production a day. * as ranked by GDP 26 27 4 JUMBO JETS EVERY DAY As big as Texas is, believe it or not, it’s getting even bigger. Texas is growing by over 2,000 people a day. That’s like four jumbo jets landing in the middle of Texas every morning and no one has a return ticket. Texas is now their home. 40 41 OF THE ELEVEN MOST POPULATED CITIES IN THE US, FOUR ARE IN THE TEXAPLEX 1 New York City 7 San Antonio Both the Dallas–Fort Worth metro 2 Los Angeles 8 San Diego area and the Houston metro area 3 Chicago 9 Dallas individually have larger 4 Houston 10 San Jose populations than 33 US states. 5 Philadelphia 11 Austin 6 Phoenix 36 37 This population increase over the next 35 years is like LOOK AT THE adding to the current Texaplex area: STAGGERING GROWTH Texas Population Projected Growth another Dallas–Fort Worth another Houston Current 2030 2050 Austin 2 million 3 million 5.3 million DFW 7 million 10 million 16.7 million another Austin another San Antonio Houston 6.6 million 9.3 million 14.4 million ...and throw in a Los Angeles San Antonio 2.4 million 3.2 million 4.2 million Source: Texas State Demographer’s Office 42 43 FORBES’ BEST BUY CITIES Where to invest in housing in 2015 1 Austin 3 Houston 5 Dallas 6 San Antonio TEXAS IS BUSINESS 10 Fort Worth FRIENDLY Texas has always been business friendly. The world’s largest operator of convenience stores (with over 50,000 outlets) started with one store in Texas in 1927. 48 49.