For 63 years, Wanda Conlin witnessed the rise of Fort Worth from the scenic open space behind her West Meadowbrook neighborhood. From that hilltop view, she’s seen shiny skyscrapers multiply downtown as the city grew from its Western roots into an era embracing artificial intelligence and data centers.
This is the first story in the Report’s special 1 Million & Counting growth series, which will be published on Mondays into October. The reporting will lead to a growth summit Oct. 23 at the downtown Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus.
This year Fort Worth became the nation’s 11th-largest city, with more than 1 million residents and projections estimating it will add another 400,000 people by 2050. The population growth will have a dramatic, sweeping impact on the city as it works to maintain services as dense housing developments boom. At the same time, sprawl will affect traffic congestion, water usage and more.
That means city and community leaders must tackle the challenges of growing pains to meet residents’ needs: more housing, more roads, more water, more jobs…