South Texas boom offers opportunities in housing

[TexasTowelie]

The housing business remains emphatically average across the major cities in Texas, as home builders continue to pull themselves up from the recession's lows.

But in many small South Texas communities, where oil and gas drilling is booming, housing - of any sort, be it RVs or single-family homes - can't be added quickly enough. Then there's the commercial space - or, more accurately, the lack of space for lease or purchase.

Now more developers and builders are moving into the sparsely populated Eagle Ford Shale counties to build everything from housing to pipe yards to warehouses.

Rick Montelongo, of San Antonio-based Montelongo Homes and Remodeling, recently organized a seminar for members of the Greater San Antonio Builders Association, encouraging local builders to ply their trade in the Eagle Ford Shale counties where boom times are in full swing.

http://www.chron.com/business/article/South-Texas-boom-offers-opportunities-in-housing-2434236.php

It's been a mixed blessing in south Texas. Tax revenues are up and new businesses are opening including a British style pub in Beeville, Texas.

However, water restrictions and old infrastructure are also limiting growth in small towns such as Three Rivers (a moratorium on new water/sewer passed in August 2011 are still in effect), Woodsboro (the tap water is black), Refugio (leaky water tower) and Beeville (the water intake pump at Lake Corpus Christi is just below the lake level and the water lines at the pump station at Swinney Switch are leaking).

There have also been an increase in serious accidents and damaged roads/bridges due to the increased truck traffic related to the boom.

[mbperrin]

1. That's always been our experience in Odessa.

During the boom, strangers use up the infrastructure, and during the bust, we try to repair it with what we have left.

A routine would be nice.