We’ve all seen those long lines of traffic on Main Street, during the week at lunch time no less and I know we’ve all wondered about that.
I was born in Texas, and I’ve lived in Bandera for more than 15 years. Before that, I owned property here. I was a regular visitor. And I worry about growth changing the great “cowboy” image and history of this town.
If it worries me, I know it worries folks born here, folks who’ve lived here a long time, others who’ve just moved here, everyone in love with this town’s colorful history and the rural peace and beauty of its extraordinary hills. None of us want it changed.
THE GROWTH IS A FACT In 2025, The Bandera Bulletin published an important article about growth in Bandera. It quoted an Episcopal Diocese of West Texas study that shows a 3-mile radius around the town growing “slightly faster” than the rest of Texas.
But make no mistake. Texas’ population is growing very fast.
WHERE ARE THESE PEOPLE COMING FROM The Hill Country’s growth rate isn’t new. In 2008, the hillcountryalliance. org noted while 3.1 million were living in the Hill Country, it predicted that by 2030, 4.3 million people would be living here.
In 2024, San Antonio was the fastest growing city in the U.S, According to News 4 San Antonio, between July 2022 and July 2023, nearly 22,000 people moved there.
MANY CHOOSE THE HILL COUNTRY But many of the people moving to San Antonio or Austin decide to live in the Hill Country and commute to work along with retired folks who want a peaceful, rural life in the midst of our spectacular high rolling hills, winding rivers, parks, wildlife, music, dance halls and Cowboy history of the Old West. Bandera is a prime example.
In 2024, CNN Travel named “the Texas Hill Country one of the best places to visit in the world” along with “other major tourist destinations including South Korea, Greece and Morocco.”
BOILING IT DOWN
What does this mean for Bandera, the “Cowboy Capitol of the World” given its history as a major hub of cattle drives north in the late 1800s, Involving thousands of cowboys.
It means Bandera county and the town of Bandera have to protect their “Old West” history to avoid large suburbs surrounding it. A 540-acre massive development with more than 1000 homes with prices ranging from $400, 000 to $ 1 million is being built this year in Medina County.
In Boerne, a 1,140-acre ranch is being turned into a master planned community with home prices ranging from the $900s to over $2 million.
The City of Bandera has a Comprehensive Master Plan to protect our famous little Texas town and so does the Hill Country Alliance.
It’s up to us to help.
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