Mapping Texas People3 Mapping Texas People

Texas Regions ✯ 61

Why It Matters NowWhere people choose to live has a large effect on quality of life.

TERMS & NAMES OBJECTIVES MAIN IDEAcensus, metropolitan area,suburb, industry, per capitaincome, heritage

1. Analyze geographic distributions andpatterns in Texas.

2. Compare places and regions in Texas in terms of their physical and humancharacteristics.

3. Explain ways in which geographic factorshave affected the political, economic, and social development of Texas.

To understand why most Texans livein cities rather than in rural areas, it is important to study both thephysical and human geography of Texas.

metropolitan area a city and allthe areas around it that dependon the central citysuburb a smaller communityjust outside a city

Write your response to Interact with History in your Texas Notebook.

WHAT Would You Do? Sudden growth in an area’s population can have a big impact on theenvironment. City planners predict changes in population and find waysto make their city handle all the new people. Imagine that you are acity planner in a rapidly growing Texas city. What types of facilities and services must you plan for to handle the growing population?

Where People Live in TexasThe 2000 census identified about 21 million people living in Texas.

This makes Texas the second most populous state in the nation; onlyCalifornia has more people. Texas is famous for ranches and oil wells,but most Texans don’t live in rural areas—they live in cities. By 1980four of every five Texans lived in a city.

A metropolitan area is a city and the area around it, including all the suburbs and towns that rely on the city for jobs, shopping, and entertainment. Houston is the largest metropolitan area in Texas, withmore than 4.1 million people. The Dallas metropolitan area is almost aslarge, with more than 3.5 million people. Three other metropolitan areasin Texas each have more than 1 million residents. San Antonio has about1.6 million, Fort Worth has about 1.7 million, and Austin has about 1.2 million people. Over half of all Texans live in one of these fivemetropolitan areas.

Most of the large cities in Texas are east of the Balcones Escarpment.The escarpment runs in a large arc from near Waco south to Austin. Itthen curves west past San Antonio. The Balcones Escarpment is a goodplace to separate Central and East Texas from West Texas. Of the 27 major metropolitan areas in Texas, only seven are located west of theBalcones Escarpment.

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A city collects taxes from itscitizens to pay for the servicesit provides, such as road con-struction, public transporta-tion, and police protection. If the population of a cityexpands beyond the city limits,the city cannot collect taxesin those areas. This is trueeven if the people work in thecity and use all of its services.● What problems can becaused when many peoplelive outside of a city but workinside the city limits?

PLACE

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Metropolitan Areas

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1.0

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19902000

POPULATION OF TEXAS’S LARGEST METROPOLITAN AREAS, 1990–2000

Texas cities and their surrounding areas have shown enormous growth in recent years. ● Whydo the populations of some areas grow faster than others?▲

industry the activity of makingor preparing products for sale

Why Cities Grow Why do so many people live in Central and East Texas and so few in

West Texas? Part of the answer is that people tend to live where the jobsare. Houston began to grow in its early years because of its oil industryand its port. Later, other industries provided jobs that made the city grow.Major industries include those that produce oil-based chemicals, oil-fieldequipment, aircraft, and computer hardware and software. The Houstonarea is also home to the Johnson Space Center, an important part of theUnited States space program.

Farther north, the city of Dallas originally grew as a financial andinsurance center. Today it is home to a great number of companiesinvolved in telecommunications, electronics, fashion,transportation, and other industries. The Dallas/FortWorth International Airport is one of thebusiest air-traffic centers in the UnitedStates. Just west of Dallas, Fort Worthis another major metropolitanarea. Fort Worth originally

Much of Houston’s economy isrelated to technology and the spaceindustry. ● How do you think theJohnson Space Center affectsHouston’s economy?

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62 ✯ Chapter 3

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Texas Regions ✯ 63

FORT WORTH Established in 1849 as a militarypost to mark the Western Texas frontier, Fort Worth wasnamed after General William Jenkins Worth, a hero of theWar in Mexico. The post was later incorporated as a city,but it didn’t grow much until the 1870s, when the cattleindustry began to thrive. Earning the nickname “CowTown,” the city offered a convenient place for cowhandsto rest from their cattle drives and for cattle buyers toestablish businesses. At the same time it was developingits stockyards, Fort Worth also grew into a major railroadcenter—a combination that the meatpacking industry

found hard to resist. During the Great Depression, how-ever, the meatpacking plants moved away, and the stock-yards area fell into decline. Although the stockyards havenow been restored as a historical landmark, they nolonger support the Fort Worth economy. Rather, FortWorth has shifted from a “cow town” to a high-tech city.Transportation and distribution are also important indus-tries in Fort Worth. The city’s cultural district is consid-ered to be one of the liveliest in the Southwest. ● Whatchanges do you think Fort Worth had to undergo tobecome a high-tech city?

Fort Worth stockyards in early 1900s Fort Worth today

was a railroad center with feed lots and stockyards for cattle. Later, mili-tary bases and businesses in industries such as airplane and helicopterproduction moved to Fort Worth.

San Antonio boasts a number of military bases and claims one ofthe most famous sites in Texas history, the Alamo. In addition, SanAntonio’s scenic River Walk and its many theme parks make it animportant tourist center. People visit San Antonio from all over theUnited States and the world to attend conventions, learn about Texashistory, and vacation with their families.

Austin, the state capital, is the site of many state-government offices.The state’s largest university, the University of Texas, is also located there.In addition to boosting the city’s population, university students havebeen largely responsible for the growth of the music industry in Austin.Recently, Austin has emerged as an important center for high-techindustries, which are related to computers and electronics.

West Texas has not attracted as many industries as Central and EastTexas, partly because West Texas is much farther away from major popu-lation centers such as Houston, Dallas, and Austin. The distance cantranslate into higher transportation, shipping, labor, and living costs.Another reason for the difference is climate. In dry West Texas, farm-ing is mainly restricted to those areas where there is water for irriga-tion. This means that much of the land is used for ranching. Ranchesdon’t need as many workers as farms do. They also do not earn as muchincome per acre as farms.

When you think of Texas, do you think of skyscrapersand city streets? Maybe youshould! Today, three Texascities are among the top tenlargest cities in the entirenation. Dallas appears ineighth place with an estimatedpopulation of 1,188,580 peo-ple, San Antonio ranks ninthwith an estimated 1,144,646,and Houston qualifies as thefourth-largest U.S. city, withan estimated population of1,953,631.

LARGEST TEXAS CITIES

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64 ✯ Chapter 3

In 1875 a large number ofimmigrants came to the BrazosValley from Sicily, an island offthe coast of Italy. Many of theSicilians moved to the areatogether, working on others’farms until they could affordtheir own. Today, at least 600Sicilian families still operatefarms in Brazos, Robertson, andBurleson Counties. These fami-lies have been very successfulin preserving their traditionsand way of life over the years.In fact, many parts of theBrazos Valley look and feel a lotlike Italy. ● Why do you think itis important for immigrants tohold on to some of their tradi-tions and ways of life?

Sicilian Immigrantsin Texas

per capita income the averageamount of income per person peryear in a given area

Farming in Texas Even though most Texans live in cities, agriculture is still one of the

state’s most important industries. Texas has the second-largest farm incomein the United States. Only California earns more money from agriculture.

Texas has more than 225,000 farms that turn out many different prod-ucts. The Lone Star State produces more cotton than any other state. It isthe second-largest producer of sorghum, a kind of grain grown mainly forcattle feed. Other Texas crops include peanuts, black-eyed peas, pecans,wheat, potatoes, corn, rice, cottonseed, hay, soybeans, and citrus fruit such

as oranges and grapefruit. Texas is also an importantproducer of livestock—mainly cattle, sheep, and goats.

Most of the cotton in Texas is grown in the westernpart of the state. In fact, the southern High Plains is thelargest cotton-producing region in the United States.Although corn is widely grown, most production occurs inthe West Texas Panhandle. Peanuts, potatoes, and wheatare also grown in West Texas.

Rice comes from the coastal areas south of Houston.Citrus fruit, which is very sensitive to frost, is grown in theRio Grande Valley. Although sorghum is widely grown, themain area of production is in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Rich and Poor in TexasPer capita income is often used as a measure of how wealthy people are.

If you take all the money earned by everyone living in Texas in one yearand divide it by the state’s population, you will find the per capita, or perperson, income. The per capita income in Texas in 1998 was $25,369.

Amarillo

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El Paso

Houston

DallasFort Worth

Austin

San Antonio

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Other Vegetables

Dairy Cattle

Sheep

Corn

Beef Cattle

Hay

Peanuts

Cotton

Grain Sorghum

Rice

Citrus Fruit

Wheat

Soybeans

Brownsville

Laredo

Odessa

Midland

Corpus Christi

Citrus and sorghumare key Texas crops.● Why would sorghumbe especially impor-tant in Texas?

▲

Agriculture in Texas

Texas produces a variety of agricultural products, from cotton to cattle and beyond. ● In which part of Texas would you find citrus crops?

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Texas Regions ✯ 65

heritage beliefs and customs thatpeople get from their ancestors

Where are the highest incomes in Texas? Big cities tend to attractpeople who are well educated and, therefore, can get high-paying jobs.Not surprisingly, Texas’s large metropolitan areas have higher incomelevels than other areas. Earnings are above the state average in thecounties that contain Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and SanAntonio as well as in many of the counties that surround these cities.Suburban counties tend to have even higher per capita incomes. Theyare home to people who can afford to pay higher pricesfor homes that are usually larger. The second- andthird-highest income levels are in Collin County (withDallas suburbs McKinney, Frisco, and Plano) andDallas County.

The highest per capita income in Texas is not in acounty with a big city or a suburb. Sherman County, inthe northern Panhandle near the Oklahoma border, hasa per capita income of more than $38,000. ShermanCounty has oil and gas wells, farms, and ranches that produce highincomes and has a fairly low population.

The lowest per capita incomes in Texas are along the Rio Grandefrom Hudspeth County, near El Paso, to the Gulf of Mexico. The percapita income in these counties is less than $13,500. For a variety ofreasons, these areas have not been able to attract businesses that pay highsalaries. For one thing, many factories are located across the border inMexico, where labor costs are much lower than in the United States. Inaddition, many of the people in these counties work as farm laborers, a jobthat usually does not pay well. As a result, the Lower Rio Grande Valley inSouth Texas is one of the poorest places in the entire United States.

Many inner-city areas are also home to people with low incomes.Nevertheless, a city often will not have a low per capita income if enoughhigh-income people live in the rest of the city. Many low-income peoplein the inner city have had fewer years of schooling and may lack jobskills. This makes it hard for them to find good jobs that could raise theirincome and standard of living.

Diverse Names of Texas Cities and TownsTexas has a number of cities and towns whose names

reflect the various people that make up our state. ManyTexas place names are taken from Spanish words thathonor a certain place, an individual, or a characteristic ofan area. San Antonio is the largest city in Texas with aSpanish name. It is named after Saint Anthony.Hundreds of other places, from Amarillo to Zapata,also have Spanish names.

Dozens of other Texas place names reflect thestate’s varied heritage. For example, Barrett, origi-nally called Barrett’s Settlement, was named for aman who established the town after he was freedfrom slavery. Waco’s name comes from a Native

Born in Texarkana, Texas, in1930, H. Ross Perot wouldgrow up to become the wealthi-

est man in Texas. In1962, with a $1,000loan from his wife,Perot started ElectronicData Systems (EDS).Within seven years,EDS had become amajor competitor toIBM and had madePerot a billionaire. TheTexan went on to start

several other successful com-panies and ran twice forpresident of the United States.● Research to find out whichTexas city and county are hometo EDS corporate headquarters.

H. Ross Perot

Zapata was named for AntonioZapata, a cavalry officer who led a struggle for independence inNorthern Mexico after Texas won its independence. ● What is thebackground of your town’s name?

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66 ✯ Chapter 3

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0 200 Miles

300 Kilometers0

Laredo

El Paso

San Antonio

Austin

Amarillo

Waco

New Braunfels

Edinburg

San Marcos

Fredericksburg

Pampa

OdessaNacogdoches

Paris

Shamrock

Presidio

PflugervilleNederland

Sonora

Quanah

Coahoma

Eden

Aransas Pass

Midlothian

CastrovilleCestohowa

Zapata

Danevang

FrydekKosciusko

Corpus Christi

Texas’s rich ethnic heritage is illustrated in the diverse names of its cities, waterways, andlandforms. ● Which places on the map have Spanish names? Which have German names?

▲

American group in Texas. Danevang was named by people fromDenmark, and Fincastle was named by Scottish settlers. New Braunfelsis one of many places in Texas with a German name, and Frydek owesits name to Czech settlers. Kosciusko was named for a Polish generalwho fought in the American Revolutionary War. What names of placesnear you reveal Texas’s rich ethnic heritage?

Texas’s Diverse Heritage

In addition to Spanish settlers,many other ethnic groups cameto Texas seeking opportunitiesto start new lives away frompersecution and poverty. ThePolish Revolution of 1830 ledmany Poles to seek safety andstability in Texas. During the1850s a number of Czechpeople settled in Central Texas.In addition, many Dutch set-tlers came from the Nether-lands near the end of thecentury. ● Research to find onecity related to each group men-tioned above. List the cityname in the first column of athree-column chart. In thesecond column, list the lan-guage of origin. Then, in thethird column, list what the cityname means or for whom thecity is named.

CommunityOrigins

Terms & NamesIdentify:• metropolitan

area• suburb • industry • per capita

income• heritage

Organizing InformationUse a diagram like the oneshown to brainstorm aboutsome of the reasons whyhumans live where they do.On each of the spokes radiat-ing from the center circle,write one factor that mightinfluence someone to moveto a city in Texas.

Critical Thinking1. On a sheet of paper, write

three questions aboutpopulation distributionpatterns in Texas.Exchange papers with apartner and answer eachother’s questions.

2. Describe how life in theRio Grande Valley mightdiffer from life in thenorthern part of thePanhandle. How might itbe similar?

3. Explain how the WestTexas economy differsfrom that of Central andEast Texas. How do youthink these areas differ in terms of political andsocial development?

Interact with HistoryReview your response toInteract with History in yourTexas Notebook. As a class,discuss how the city will payfor all the expenses youlisted.

A C T I V I T YCulture Using a Texas map, locate your town and five surrounding towns. Research the ethnic heritage of

each town. On a map, mark each town and write this information next to it.

3

ADVANTAGESOF LIVINGIN A CITY

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