The Long Haul

Texas keeps on trucking as No. 1 state for growth in U.S., says report

Texas is trucking when it comes to growth.

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For the third year in a row, the Lone Star State is trucking into 2019 as the No. 1 Growth State in America. U-Haul, the preferred truck of college kids everywhere, released its annual report analyzing U.S. migration trends over the last year and proved that, once again, everyone is crazy about Texas.

To determine the biggest states for growth, the company used the more than two million one-way truck transactions reported by more than 21,000 U-Haul locations in 2018, and then calculated "the net gain" of trucks. Simplified, U-Haul analyzed the number of moving trucks that entered into a state, but did not leave.

"While migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, U-Haul growth data is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents," the company said in January 2 press release.

U-Haul saw a 5 percent increase in one-way trucks over 2017, with Austin-Round Rock, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and Houston among the state's top destinations.

"North Texas is truly bursting at the seams," stated Kevin Flanagan, U-Haul Company of Northwest Dallas president. "McKinney, Frisco, and the entire Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex has been growing substantially in recent years."

Joining Texas among the top growth states is Florida (2), South Carolina (3), Utah (4), and Idaho (5). According to U-Haul's report, trailing at the bottom with the least growth is Massachusetts (46), Louisiana (47), California (48), Michigan (49), and Illinois (50).

"I think [Texas] is the most desirable state in which to live," Flanagan unabashedly continued. "Obviously, many U-Haul truck-sharing customers agree with me."

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Texas is one of the worst places in the nation to ride a bike

Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in San Antonio, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around San Antonio, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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