Like many rural cities in North Texas, Aubrey is experiencing notable growth. About a 10-minute drive from Aubrey lies Silverado, a master-planned community built by D.R. Horton.
Located about 20 minutes northeast of Denton, the community developed over the past few years. This year, its builder was ranked as the top seller of homes in Texas in the first quarter of 2022 and the nation’s third-fastest-selling master-planned community in the first half of 2022.
Silverado has about 1,500 homes but could potentially have up to 5,000. The population of Aubrey is 6,500— which is double what it had 10 years ago.
Other master-planned communities are beginning to surround Aubrey as well, transitioning the town beyond its farming roots. Sandbrock Ranch and Aspen Meadows Bedroom communities will have a combined total of around 2,700 homes.
As the population of North Texas cities has been growing, the cost of housing has been rising. Residents have begun moving out to the suburbs and, as is seen with Aubrey, suburbanizing more rural areas.
The houses in Silverado start at $343,490. The median price of homes in the DFW area has risen to $430,000.
Aubrey does not receive property tax revenue from the surrounding communities, as they are just outside of city limits, but there is potential for these neighbors to one day be annexed to Aubrey.
Rapid growth brings challenges as well as boons. In January, the town faced water quality issues, with supply-chain problems, labor shortages, drought, and heat complicating the affair.
“We want to have growth for our citizens and provide those services that they need,” Aubrey interim city administrator Charles Kreidler told the Dallas Morning News, “but we also want to keep that small-town feel, which is why most of the residents who live in the city limits of Aubrey moved here in the first place.”
According to a local restaurant owner, Krys Murray, the new business has allowed the economy of Aubrey and its small businesses to thrive after years of treading water.
