Urban Problems in Texas - Essay Example

Issues such as crime and overcrowding plague Dallas, Austin and San Antonio just as much as they are likely to plague cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit. However, Texas also faces some urban problems that remain unique to the state because they are largely the result of the speed with which the state developed these areas as compared with the (sometimes) centuries that other cities in the United States have had. Between the 1970s and the early 1980s, cities in Texas were recording record rates of growth in population (Texas, 2007).

This was due to the influx of new residents from other states in the union who were seeking the sun and had heard about the low property taxes. This large influx of people provided an abundant and constantly increasing labor force which further helped to attract new businesses. In addition, Texas as a state generally held numerous pro-business traditions such as a notoriously low number of available labor unions, an already high and increasing labor force, low taxes for businesses, a close proximity to numerous natural resources and a proliferation of city governments that were favorable to growth and development, frequently offering even more incentives for businesses to move to their area.

As a result of this boom, though, the urban areas of Texas are now experiencing a general decline that seems unlikely to be curtailed in the near future. This decline is the result of an aging population, urban sprawl to the suburbs with the result of greater poverty within city limits, disintegrating infrastructure, increased crime rates and mandates to meet with increasing federal and state requirements while federal aid hits an all-time low and low state taxes have precluded any ability to overcome these challenges.

By the late 1980s, economic conditions in Texas cities had dramatically changed from the boom they saw in the previous decade including the aging, or graying, of the urban residents and subsequent loss of the