Polk County was once known mainly for its citrus. Located between Tampa and Orlando, Florida’s citrus capital produces more boxes of tangy fruits than any other county in the state. But last year, more people moved to the county than to any other in the United States. It gained almost 30,000 new residents.
The migration reflects a type of growth seen all over the country: the rise of the exurbs. These are outlying communities on the margins of metro areas—past the suburbs. Some are as far as 60 miles from a city’s center.
In recent years, rising housing drove people farther from cities. Exurbs had some of the fastest-growing populations last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
These communities are primarily in the South. Some examples are Anna on the outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area in Texas; Fort Mill, South Carolina, outside Charlotte, North Carolina; Lebanon outside Nashville, Tennessee; and Polk County’s Haines City.
For some Polk County residents, commuting each way to and from work can take up to an hour and a half. Marisol Ortega lives in Haines City, about 40 miles from her job in Orlando. She says it’s worth it.
“I love what I do, but then I love coming back home, and it’s more tranquil,” Ortega says.
Hurricanes and citrus diseases in Florida also pushed some citrus growers to sell their groves. Developers build new residences or stores on the land.
Anna, Texas, is more than 45 miles north of downtown Dallas. It’s seeing the same kind of migration. It was the fourth fastest-growing city in the United States last year.
Schuyler Crouch and his wife wanted to buy a house in a closer-in exurb like Frisco, where he grew up. But prices there skyrocketed because of population growth and increased demand for houses. In Anna, they fell in love with a house that was more reasonably priced. They both work in Frisco, about 30 miles away. That town was not long ago seen as a far-flung outpost of Dallas.
Still, Crouch notices the exurbs keep getting pushed farther north. Breakneck growth makes affordable housing out of reach, even in neighborhoods once considered to be on the fringes of the metro area.
“The next exurb we are going to be living in is Oklahoma,” he jokes.
My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. — Isaiah 32:18
Why? Where people live can say something about their preferences and financial circumstances.
