I agree that Houston's concrete sprawl isn't endearing and that it's suffering some externalities, but in some respects I also see it as some sort of harbinger

I agree that Houston's concrete sprawl isn't endearing and that it's suffering some externalities, but in some respects I also see it as some sort of harbinger for Austin. I like Austin, and would love to live there, but I'm timid about moving there in the short term because the transit, roadway, and housing situations don't seem very sustainable with all of this growth thrown on top. FWIW, at least per numbers from proximityone.com (and I'm not certain how well-sourced the data is...) the Austin MSA is significantly less dense than Houston's: > Geography. The total land area of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA is 8,265.8 SqMi with water area of 1,178.1 SqMi. The metro ranked 21st among all metros based on total land area. With 2017 population density of 833.9, the metro ranked 20th among all metros (based on land area). http://proximityone.com/cbsa/1/cbsa26420.htm http://proximityone.com/cbsa/1/cbsa26420.htm > Geography. The total land area of the Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA is 4,221.7 SqMi with water area of 58.4 SqMi. The metro ranked 96th among all metros based on total land area. With 2017 population density of 501.2, the metro ranked 49th among all metros (based on land area). http://proximityone.com/cbsa/1/cbsa12420.htm http://proximityone.com/cbsa/1/cbsa12420.htm