The Urban Growth Patterns In College Station

Since I had my Master of Landscape Architecture Degree in TAMU from 2012, I have been this town for almost four years. Great changes have taken place in the town in the last four years. Construction sites are everywhere. More and more apartments and houses are built.

Last week, we have a guest lecture from a staff from City of College Station. He said the direction of College Station development is South. A lot of development is going on in that direction. There is a Medical District which is the second largest employer in CS. More retail and residential projects will be developed around Medical District.

Then I searched the City of College Station Demographic Report.  The data is shown that the size of College Station has increased significantly since its incorporation.

“Between 1938 and 1939, College Station’s boundaries extended from the Northgate District, through Texas A&M University’s Main Campus (and shortly after, annexing the Eastgate Area Neighborhood), and ending its southern boundary in the Southside Area Neighborhood. Significant annexations have occurred in past decades. The most significant land acquisitions occurred between 1950 and 1960, 1960 and 1970, and 1990 and 2000. The portions of the College Station that were incorporated during these decades were: 

1950 and 1960: Portions of land surrounding the east bypass to the northern City limit, including Plantation Oaks Subdivision to the east and Wolf Pen to the west;

1960 and 1970: Large portions of land extending from Texas Avenue to Wellborn Road, bounded by Southwest Parkway and Harvey Mitchell Parkway, including the South Knoll Area Neighborhood and Southwood Valley;

1990 and 2000: Areas south of Rock Prairie Road, including regions as far east as portions of Pebble Creek Subdivision and as far west as Edelweiss and Castlegate Subdivisions.

The most recent annexation was in 2011 when College Station acquired the area known as the Wellborn community. There are no plans for future annexation.”

I take a look of Google Earth Map, which will have historical images. From the Google Earth Map, we can also verify the conclusion that the City of College Station staff made, the urban pattern is go to south direction.

The basic industry in CS is education, obviously. Here is some data from City of College Station Demographic Report:

In 2012, the top employers were:

Bryan ISD

College Station ISD

Reynolds and Reynolds

Sanderson Farms

St. Joseph Regional Hospital

Texas A&M University System

Brazos County

City of College Station

College Station Medical Center

In my view, the most valuable intersection is the intersection of Texas Avenue and University Drive. First of all, Texas Ave. and University Dr. are both main traffic in CS. Secondly, They are both connected to the Highway 6. Lastly, TAMU campus is at that corner.