When Susan D’Amico moved to Celina, Texas, an hour north of Dallas, there was only one grocery store, longhorn cattle on the road, and no lights in sight at night. Farmers in overalls gathered for morning coffee, teenagers packed the local pizzeria after Friday night football games, and neighbors worshiped together at church on Sunday.
“We felt like we were on another planet,” said D’Amico, who has lived in Celina for nearly 30 years, where she raised her children. “Not only were we out of town, we were completely disconnected from what we considered at the time to be a remote civilization.”
But the small American town of D’Amico is quickly disappearing. Like rural communities across the country, Celina is experiencing a real estate boom that will make it the fastest-growing city in America by 2023. Now pastures have been replaced by densely populated housing, and golf carts rumble around planned communities where tractors once worked. Local companies are being replaced by big box chains.
While suburban sprawl is nothing new, rising housing prices in recent years have fueled the trend, pushing homebuyers across the country away from urban centers where land like Celina is cheaper and available, creating local hurdles. . Developers are usually shorter.
The USDA says the rural population is increasing for the first time in at least a decade since the pandemic began. analysis Found. Among the nation’s 500 fastest-growing cities, the number of cities within a 30-mile radius of the city center increased 26 percent from 2019 to 2023. According to For census data.
Selena is at the forefront of this trend. Its population is expected to grow by 27 percent by 2023, and the city has grown from about 7,000 residents in the past decade to more than 43,000 residents last year. According to For census data. With more than 200 people moving there every week, the city plans to welcome more than 100,000 residents by 2029.
“Affordability is a big factor for families moving now,” Celina Mayor Ryan Tubbs said, adding that the city is attracting people from more expensive areas of Dallas, as well as from more expensive states like California. “The size of the house you can get is very helpful.”
For newcomers to Celina, located about 25 miles north of Dallas, the development boom has provided a refuge from rising housing prices, allowing them to enjoy a suburban lifestyle at a lower cost than elsewhere. But for some who have been residents for many years, migration means a loss of connection to the community, increased costs and threats to their livelihoods.
The lack of undeveloped land in the Dallas area has pushed developers north into Collin County, which includes Celina and other fast-growing communities such as Princeton, Prosper and Anna. Homebuilders are selling 2,000-square-foot homes for $400,000 to $500,000, compared with $700 to $1 million for a similar home in the suburbs near downtown Dallas, said Brian Swindle, president of PulteGroup’s Dallas division.
“Southern Collin County has become very expensive. “Places like Frisco and McKinney no longer had large amounts of land, so builders started working up north,” Swindle said. “When a piece of land goes on the market, there are 10 builders and developers bidding on it.”
Most of the new projects under construction are master-planned communities with more than 1,000 gated homes, making the construction process more profitable for builders. Many communities have their own amenities, such as swimming pools, parks, bike paths, playgrounds, and in some cases their own schools.
Major retailers and chain stores follow the migration. In the coming months, the city will get its first Walmart and Costco, and last year it got its second Starbucks.
While Celina is racing to keep up with growth, nearby Princeton, Texas, is the third-fastest-growing city in the country. I am waiting All new residential construction will take place in September to give the city time to expand water and road infrastructure and build the necessary police force.
“It’s happening”
LaCinda lost growth to Russell. His family has lived near Celina for three generations, but he doesn’t expect to be able to buy a home there after home prices in the area have risen more than 50% in the past five years. She and her best friend live in a house her friend’s family built more than two decades ago, a place that now feels like a familiar island in a sea of change.
Outside his window, a large crane is constructing a well, which he hopes will become a subdivision after the elderly woman who owned it for decades dies. The town recently lost a pizzeria where teammates gathered after soccer games, as well as a popular ice shop and burger joint near the town square.
“I’ve seen businesses come and go. I’ve seen people come and go,” Russell said. “Emotionality dies if you can’t maintain that lifestyle, and we see a lot of that here. “People who have owned the land here for hundreds of years are having to give it up.”
This growth also threatened those trying to take advantage of some of the country’s best soils for agriculture and livestock. According to the USDA, Collin County lost 115,000 acres of farmland between 2012 and 2022, and the number of farms larger than 500 acres fell by nearly half during that period. Data. The whole country, the country. lost During that period, 35 million hectares of agricultural land.
“North Texas has some of the most fertile soil in the country, so Dallas is here and we build homes and buildings on top of it,” said Kelsey Casper, a sixth-generation rancher whose family lives in Collin. “They are no longer producing land, so in the end, if we keep building, there will be no land left for agricultural production. We have to depend on someone else for our food. “I think it’s a very scary future.”
Casper now raises cattle and grows hay about 30 miles east of Celina, but he fears growth in his community will soon come and could threaten his ability to keep the family tradition alive. Most farmers and ranchers in the area have to lease their land to investors or developers who have purchased the property in the past decade.
“I intend to live here as long as I can, but I may not be able to raise livestock and farm here all the time because property values are going up,” Casper said. “It is still difficult to make a living here because the land is disappearing.”
But this loss is a gain for newcomers like Jasmine Hughes. She is one of those who flock to the area in search of a cheaper life for herself and her six children. When she lived in Dallas, her rent was $1,900 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, and she had a hard time finding something in her price range with more space. He now rents a three-bedroom house for $2,500 a month in a larger area with better schools and more open spaces.
“I needed something cheaper,” said Hughes, who moved to the area last year. “That’s why we moved here. “It’s more realistic to live in a three- or four-bedroom house so my children and I can sleep and live comfortably.”
Last year, a Starbucks, McDonald’s, a car wash and a dentist’s office were added to Main Street outside their subdivision. She sees this growth as a career opportunity: She runs a daycare center that she hopes to expand and has begun teaching fitness classes.
“I’m very excited about this and see a lot of opportunities for me and my family,” Hughes said. “I heard that some people who live here don’t want Selena to change. I understand that, but it happens.”
Local officials see no slowdown in growth, which has created a number of logistical problems. The city is proposing $757 million in projects over the next five years, including new parks, water infrastructure and an emergency dispatch center. The school district plans to add one or two new elementary schools each year for the foreseeable future.
Keeping Celina relatively affordable has also been a challenge for local officials, with a typical home now selling for about $550,000. As land prices rise in Celina, developers like Plot Swindle are looking north for opportunities to build homes in the $300,000 price range.
“mixed blessing”
Luke Thigpen moved to Selena in 2019 He was renting in an attempt to raise money to start a church and buy a house for about $400,000. However, this has proven difficult as house prices continue to rise year after year.
He sees growth as an opportunity, especially when it comes to expanding his congregation, but is concerned about the tension a wave of newcomers could create in a community with a strong tradition of Christian values.
“People see diversity and automatically become defensive. They want to protect the good life values and that’s understandable,” Thigpen says. “There are other cultures coming in, and you have to understand that some people see the world differently, others celebrate life differently, and you have to make room.” “So.”
For D’Amico, after nearly three decades at Celina, he’s seen the pros and cons of growth. Her husband’s construction business flourished and the value of the land he purchased increased over the years.
“We saw fields full of 5-foot sunflowers, winter wheat, and tall corn fields, and now it’s hard to see all of that gone,” he said. “My husband works in construction, which is a blessing for us, but I hate to see the fields disappear.”
A 2,500-acre farm near his home was recently sold to a developer who plans to build thousands of homes. The road soon crosses open land 500 meters from its back wall.
“I know this is killing my silence, the silence surrounding my home,” he said. “I’ve been there for 27 years, so I can’t complain, but it’s very valuable to me now.”
