The taxes were getting so high. It was too expensive for us. As others like her migrate to the Killeen-Temple metropolitan area, sales of new and existing homes have picked up. But 2000 looks like it's going to be better than 1999. As housing prices skyrocket and roads become more congested in Travis and Williamson counties, many have left for bucolic homesteads 60 miles away in Bell County.
Economists say it's difficult to estimate how much of that growth stems from Austin sprawl.
Although Temple has managed to lure new business and expansions to the city, many longtime Temple and Belton residents still can't find the type of employers they want. So they have begun commuting to Austin. Kenny Urbeck lost his job of 17 years at Texas instruments Inc. when the Dallas semiconductor giant sold some of it's Temple operations to Acer computers International Ltd. in 1997. He said he couldn't find comparable work in Temple and has commuted 120 miles round-trip to a job at Solectron Corp. in Austin since June 1998. Austin's insatiable appetite for labor is drawing hundreds of Bell County workers south, so much so that many companies subsidize van service to help reduce workers' commuting costs.