Texas on Top

Explosive growth results in almost 400 new Dallas-Fort Worth residents per day

Dallas-Fort Worth is still the largest metro area in Texas.

Population is booming in the Lone Star State: According to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas has added more new residents than any other state in the country.

Released Thursday, the Census Bureau's population estimates paint a picture of nationwide growth from July 1, 2014 through July 1, 2015. Texas gained a whopping 490,000 new residents in that time. Together, the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston metro areas claimed more than 412,000 of those new Texans.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington added 144,704 people — about 396 new residents per day. With a total population of 7.1 million, Dallas-Fort Worth remains the most populous metro in Texas and the fourth largest in the U.S.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area witnessed the highest population gain in the nation, with 159,083 new residents, bringing the total up to 6.6 million. Austin-Round Rock was the fastest-growing metro area in the state, with a 3 percent population increase. A similar story played out in San Antonio-New Braunfels, which attracted 51,285 residents. Combined, the Austin-San Antonio area added 108,680 people.

Even Texas' tinier towns are seeing phenomenal population expansion. Three small metro areas were among the fastest growing in the nation: Midland (No. 4) and Odessa (No. 5), with a 3.3 percent increase, and College Station-Bryan (No. 15), with 2.6 percent. The fastest-growing metro area in the country was The Villages, a suburb of Orlando, Florida, which experienced a 4.3 percent increase in one year.

As we lead the country in population growth and gain, it seems everyone wants to be a Texan. But Texans also like their wide open spaces, so let's keep encouraging the masses to move to Orlando.

reports texas transportation trends

E-Cigarette News

Dallas City Council places restrictions on vaping in public

Unsplash

Man vaping

Vaping will now be banned exactly like smoking, thanks to a new ordinance from the Dallas City Council.

At their December 11 meeting, the council passed an ordinance to ban vaping in all the same areas where smoking is not allowed. It'll go into effect on December 11, 2025 — giving everyone a year to get into compliance.

Proposed by City of Dallas Environmental Commission (EVC) and the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS), the ordinance amends the definition of “smoking” in the Dallas City Code to include the use of vaping devices.

The ordinance does not ban vaping — it only bans where you can vape: no vaping in all indoor and enclosed spaces; within 15 feet of building entrances; and on park property. The ordinance also bans marijuana smoking in those same places.

In addition, the amendment requires restaurants, hotels, fitness centers and other businesses to update their signage to clearly state that both smoking and electronic smoking devices are prohibited.

The ordinance already earned widespread support from health organizations such as the Dallas County Health and Human Services, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association. These organizations, along with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all raised concerns about the health risks of direct and second-hand exposure to vaping aerosols, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and older adults.

Dallas is not the first city to impose such a ban: San Antonio enacted a similar ban in October. Theirs goes into effect on January 1, 2025.

politics