EDITORIAL
Is much of rural Texas turning into “The Last Picture Show,” a dusty, forgotten place?
Excepting some good news on the horizon here, many small towns in the Lone Star state have not felt the “Texas Miracle” that politicians mention. A recent report in the business section of The New York Times pointed out the disparities of this state’s success where the metro areas and its “Mayberrys” are compared. Officials at the Federal Reserve, who try to ensure a smooth economy nationwide, have also taken notice.
Four out of every five job gains in Texas went to either the Dallas, Houston, Austin or San Antonio areas. Those places saw double the job gains of rural Texas.
Our cities are attracting the young talent along with the business. Small towns deal with the inevitable brain drain that occurs every year at high school graduation, where most of the best and brightest students will never return.
We certainly are not disparaging this success. Texas’ environment of low regulation has undoubtedly led to this boom. The proof is in the pudding for Texas’ economic success.
But with either roots or relatives in Texas small towns, we wonder how can those places get more of a taste of this success? And can our lawmakers do anything to help encourage development in rural areas, while guarding our talent hubs in the metro areas.
“You need to have so many things to be able to get to where you need to be to attract people and businesses,” the article quoted from Pia M. Orrenius, a vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, citing one of East Texas’ vibrant mid-sized towns. “One of the things you need is the work force. A place like Longview, it’s a little bit harder to compete.”
Longview is doing better than a lot of Texas towns. But its population over the past eight years grew two percent, while Austin saw a 26 percent rise. Longview recently passed a bond issue to improve parks, schools and infrastructure to try and woo back young families.
Longview has affordable starter homes. But its marketing efforts are not sophisticated. Other small towns struggle with this, as well.
Central Texas is booming, thanks to the I-35 corridor growth, but there are giant swaths of places in North, East, West and South Texas that struggle to attract anything at all, much less the kinds of white-collar jobs that can drive auxiliary investments and business. (Think what Dell Computer did to sleepy Round Rock in the 1990s.)
Rockdale has suffered huge industry job loss in the past decade, so we are pleased to hear of potential projects, from a solar plant, to an entrepreneur who may bring 45 to 50 jobs for hemp warehouses.
Is this difference in levels of success simply the luck of the draw and should we just continue to let the chips fall where they may? Or could the legislature give an assist by creating investment zones in our struggling areas?
Improved communication infrastructure can only help. Would a beneficial tax break for rural entrepreneurs make a difference?
We want Texas officials to consider these options and help our rural areas. And in 25 years, we’d like to see a more even spreading of this Texas Miracle. Helping our small towns can only strengthen our great state. – K.E.C.
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