Texas
I'm moving to America's fastest-growing city. I get why it's so popular, but I hope it keeps the small-town Texas charm.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michelle Clifford, a 33-year-old sales manager from California who is moving to Celina, Texas, in July. Celina’s population surged 26.6% from July 2022 to July 2023, making it the fastest-growing city in the US. The population as of 2023 is 43,317. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m from Orange County. In high school, my best friend moved to Austin. I would visit her all the time, and I fell in love with Texas. I loved the people, their hospitality, and the state’s lakes.
When I was a senior, I applied to only Texas colleges. I got into TCU — Texas Christian University — and attended for four years. I made a bunch of lifelong friends, who later even became my bridesmaids.
Back then, everyone, including me, thought I would stay after graduation — because I was a die-hard Texan.
But during my senior year of college, I fell in love with my husband, who was attending college in the Bay Area. He’s a California boy through and through. So after graduating, I moved back to Southern California.
After college, we lived in San Diego for five years, and then, in 2018, moved to San Francisco where we lived until 2020. During that time, we got engaged, married, and had our first daughter. We then moved to Oceanside, California, and I became pregnant with my second daughter.
Over time, our priorities changed. We wanted to slow down and buy a house, but it wasn’t realistic for us in California.
There were a lot of things that I liked about Texas, and my job also had an office in Frisco.
My husband and I were like, “Why not give this a go?”
In Texas, rent is cheaper and we can experience country living
We moved to Prosper, a town north of Dallas, in February. Prosper has been booming, with many Californians moving there.
I read that in 2009, the population was around 10,000 and now it’s about 40,000.
Right now, we’re renting a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house that sits on a third of an acre of land for $2,650 per month.
In Oceanside, we were renting a two-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow built in the 1960s for $3,300. I was working remotely, so I had to convert my office into a nursery for my baby daughter. It made our living space feel very crowded.
Courtesy of Michelle Clifford
In July, we are moving into a 2,400-square-foot home in Celina that sits on an acre of land that we purchased for around $600,000.
Celina is about an hour’s drive from Dallas and is very rural; everywhere you look, there are longhorn cattle.
We were drawn to Celina because we have friends from California who moved here and college friends who are natives. It felt like the ideal place to settle down and establish roots.
More importantly, it was about doing something completely different. We’ve experienced city life and wanted to embrace country living and own some land.
Courtesy of Michelle Clifford.
Our home is located near the only post office in Celina, close to its downtown square, on a small street at the end of a cul-de-sac. Our next-door neighbors have eight cows that are always right next to our fence — it’s hilarious. We also just installed a chicken coop.
It wasn’t as difficult to buy a home in Texas as it would have been in California
I’ve heard crazy stories about buying homes, so I didn’t have high expectations when it came to buying a home ourselves.
In California, my friends often lost bidding wars for homes to buyers willing to offer up to $150,000 above the asking price, often in cash.
But finding a home in Celina was the easiest process. It was like all the stars aligned.
Once we found our home, we contacted our landlord in Prosper, who was also originally from California and had become a real-estate agent, to help us make an offer.
The sellers accepted our offer the same day we put it in, and we entered escrow and closed within 15 days.
Courtesy of Michelle Clifford
If we stayed in California, we knew that buying a home would likely require moving far east to be near the ocean, or settling for a lifetime of renting or living in a small townhouse without a backyard. We’re outdoor people, so it would feel like we were getting robbed.
I’m not usually an emotional person, but in the last month, I swear, I cried all the time — I just never thought it was going to happen.
I’ve been renting or moving almost every single year since I was 18. To finally have something that’s mine is the most amazing feeling.
Knowing that in Celina I’ll have space for my daughters to run around is the biggest blessing. I keep imagining them playing at the end of a cul-de-sac just like I did when I was growing up.
I’m just so grateful. It feels like it was all meant to be.
Our money goes further in Texas
We absolutely could not afford a home similar to ours in a Dallas neighborhood or even back in California.
I have really good friends who live in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, and those home prices are right up there with San Diego.
Buying a home wasn’t possible in the Bay Area, especially with what we wanted within our budget of $700,000.
I had a good job, but spending so much on rent made it difficult to save for a down payment. We also had many friends and were busy with weddings, travel, and bachelorette parties.
I feel like a lot of the city’s natives will roll their eyes at me calling Celina affordable. It’s a double-edged sword with Californians coming in and raising prices.
But for me, it made our dream come true to be able to buy a home.
Celina is growing fast, but it still feels cozy
Celina is actually a big town radius-wise, but it has a small, cozy vibe.
Everyone says hi to everyone, and I feel like we all know one another. It’s hard to describe, but it feels almost like you’re going back in time.
I’m honored to consider myself a Celina resident and am grateful to be welcomed.
Courtesy of Michelle Clifford
The city and people of Celina have done a good job of preserving their culture, with many small businesses and almost no fast-food chains.
But I do know it’s one of the fastest-growing towns in America.
My husband and I are really good friends with a land broker in Celina, so we are aware of how up-and-coming it is.
There are many residential homes and apartment complexes being built, along with a bunch of commercial businesses.
Though it might be hypocritical for me to say — especially as someone who is contributing to its growth by moving here —it’s kind of bittersweet.
While I find its growth really cool and exciting, I also feel kind of protective over it.
I hope Celina doesn’t lose that quaint feel that drew me here in the first place.
Texas
Texas A&M Forward Transfer Seemingly on Visit to See Lady Vols Basketball | Rocky Top Insider

Lady Vols basketball is looking to add more pieces to its 2026-27 roster with high-level experience. After completing her junior season at Texas A&M, Fatmata Janneh has emerged as a Tennessee target for her final year of eligibility. According to her Instagram story on Sunday night, she is in Knoxville.
With the Aggies a year ago, the 6-foot-2 forward averaged 11.4 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. She also showed off an ability to hit from range, posting 1.1 makes per game on 33% shooting from three.
Perhaps Janneh’s biggest strength is her rebounding, though. She ripped down 9.7 boards per contest, good for the fifth-most in the SEC. This featured 2.6 rebounds on the offensive end per outing.
Janneh also averaged 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. She appeared in 27 games, starting in each.
More From RTI: How Watching The NCAA Tournament Drew Terrence Hill Jr. To Tennessee Basketball
Janneh started her career with a pair of seasons at St. Peter’s. As a sophomore, she averaged a double-double, posting 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. This made her a sought-after transfer in the portal before landing at Texas A&M as the nation’s leading defensive rebounder. As a freshman, she averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.
The forward is from London, England, attending Barking Abbey Sixth Form for her prep ball. She would be the second player from England to join the Tennessee roster if she committed. UT also added the commitment of incoming freshman and former Boston College signee Irene Oboavwoduo this offseason.
So far, Caldwell and the Lady Vols have landed five transfers in this portal cycle. This features Liberty guard Avery Mills, Northern Arizona guard Naomi White, Stanford forward Harper Peterson and Georgia forward Zhen Craft and guard Rylie Theuerkauf.
Tennessee will also roster a pair of incoming freshmen. Four-star recruit and top-50 prospect Gabby Minus is staying true to her signing despite the roster overhaul and assistant coaching changes, along with the addition of Oboavwoduo.
Texas
Texas needs at least $174 billion to avoid water crisis, state says
AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Texas communities will need to spend $174 billion in the next 50 years to avert a severe water crisis, a new state analysis revealed Thursday. That’s more than double the $80 billion projected four years ago, when the Texas Water Development Board last passed a state water plan.
The three-member board presiding over the agency authorized the highly anticipated draft blueprint Thursday, the first administrative step toward adopting the water development board’s plans for the next 50 years. The plan, released every five years, encompasses the projects that 16 regional water planning groups in Texas said are the most urgent, water development board officials said.
The board’s latest estimates come as the state’s water supply faces numerous threats. Growing communities across Texas are scrambling to secure water, keep up with construction costs and cope with a yearslong drought. This week, Corpus Christi officials said the city may be just months away from declaring a water emergency. Meanwhile, other rural cities by the Coastal Bend are rapidly drilling wells to avoid a crisis. Residents in North Texas have also been bracing for groundwater shortages.
In an effort to restrain the crisis, lawmakers last year called an election in which voters approved a $20 billion boost for communities to use on water-related expenses. The water development board’s estimate shows that what lawmakers proposed on the ballot falls dramatically short of the needed cash, experts said.
“What this number tells me at the end of the day is if we don’t get serious about (funding water projects), there are going to be serious consequences for Texas,” said Perry Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network. “Even with the billion-dollar-a-year plan kicking in, it’s not going to be enough to offset the costs of the projects that are going to have to be executed.”
The new estimate accounts for 3,000 projects, from regional infrastructure upgrades to smaller endeavors such as drilling new water wells. Texas’ water supplies are expected to drop by roughly 10% between 2030 and 2080, according to the water plan. In that same time frame, the maximum amount of water communities can draw is also expected to decline by 9%.
The 80-page plan notes approximately 6,700 recommended strategies that would add water to the state’s dwindling portfolio. The recommendations — which are not accounted for in the cost — include developing new supplies from aquifer storage and recovery, brackish groundwater, desalination and recycled water. It also calls for water conservation.
The report suggested that if Texas does not implement the plans and recommendations, the state is one severe drought away from an estimated $91 billion in economic damages in 2030.
The state’s plan attributes a variety of reasons for the bigger price tag, such as higher costs of construction due to inflation, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains, and a growing backlog of water supply projects.
“There’s a plan that can meet our needs,” said Matt Nelson, deputy executive administrator for the Office of Planning at the water development board, adding that they take their cues from the regional planning groups. “These are local projects that folks need to implement; they’re needed regardless of how they’re funded. It’s important to remember these are not top-down projects or state projects.”
Experts told The Texas Tribune that the board’s estimate is only a fraction of what Texas communities will need to ensure they have water in 50 years’ time, saying growth and development are outpacing the state’s ability to keep up.
“This is a bigger water plan in terms of volume strategies and capital costs compared to anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Jeremy Mazur, the director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at think tank Texas 2036.
Mazur suggested that the $174 billion only covers water supply projects and does not account for updating aging infrastructure, adding that the actual price could amount to a quarter of a trillion dollars.
“There’s a substantial magnitude with regard to the capital investment needed to both fix our aging and current systems and potentially develop the water infrastructure, water supply projects that we need.“
The report largely confirmed what many water experts have warned regarding threats to the state’s water supply, said Sarah Kirkle, director of policy at the Texas Water Association.
“Population growth, extreme weather, and economic development needs are all increasing demands on our infrastructure, and the state is going to need more water, sooner,” Kirkle said. “This is all while water projects are becoming more costly and complex because the easiest and cheapest local projects have already been developed.”
Fowler, with the infrastructure network, said he expects the Texas Legislature to take up the issue next year, when lawmakers meet for the 90th legislative session. He said the state should take a bigger role in ensuring that communities can afford their respective water projects.
“It’s going to have to be a top-down priority, there’s no way around it,” he said. “The challenges are so immense that it’s going to take all hands on deck.”
Texas residents have until the end of May to comment on the proposal. Water development board officials must adopt it by January 2027.
Alejandra Martinez contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas
Co‑worker confesses to killing missing North Texas man and stealing his car, police say
A North Texas man reported missing earlier this week was found dead Friday, and police say a co‑worker has confessed to fatally shooting him and stealing his car.
The suspect, Gregory D. Lewis, 34, remains in custody and faces a forthcoming capital murder charge, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.
Lewis is accused of killing 31‑year‑old Thomas King, who had been last seen in his Taco Casa work uniform. King was reported missing on Tuesday after failing to return home Monday from the fast‑food restaurant in the 1100 block of Bridgewood Drive.
Car found at Arlington motel
Police said King’s car was found at the Quality Inn on I‑20 in Arlington, and surveillance video showed Lewis arriving in King’s vehicle shortly after King left work.
Detectives identified the man in the video and arrested him on unrelated charges.
Body discovered on Fort Worth’s East Side
King’s body was located on Friday in an open field on Fort Worth’s East Side, authorities said.
According to police, Lewis confessed to shooting the victim and stealing his car.
Medical examiner review pending
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
CBS News Texas has reached out to Taco Casa for comment.
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