Manor, Texas, a 153-year-old city on Austin's eastern edge, grew 225% between 2013 and 2023, and Mayor Dr. Chris Harvey is detailing how the city is preparing for an additional 22,000 residents expected by 2030. In the latest episode of The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, Harvey explained that 14,000 housing units are already moving through the planning pipeline as semiconductor manufacturing, logistics hubs, and Samsung-related suppliers reshape the region.
The conversation focused on the policy choices behind Manor's transformation from a bedroom community to a full-service city. Harvey highlighted the construction of Manor's first-ever city-owned library and recreation center, funded through a recent bond election. He also discussed a feasibility study supporting a proposed 50-bed hospital, anchored by a relationship with St. David's, which already operates a full-service emergency center downtown.
Harvey was candid about why the city is only now standing up basic civic infrastructure. "Our city is 153 years old and this is the first time we're building these facilities. And so that's phase one," he told McKenzie. He also pushed back on assumptions about local tax policy, explaining that lowering the rate is a long game tied to economic development. "The tax rate is not the tax rate because we want it to be a high tax rate. Being able to get to a lower tax rate is city leadership's dream," Harvey said, describing efforts to recover sales tax dollars and reinvest them into roads, parks, and drainage.
The episode also explored how Manor is knitting together workforce development with Manor ISD, which was for years the city's largest employer before logistics and semiconductor suppliers arrived. Harvey described regular meetings between the city manager and the superintendent to share demographic data, coordinate employer recruitment, and connect new companies to college, career, and military pathways for students.
McKenzie drew a broader Texas parallel, noting that Garland is currently the largest city in the country without a hospital and that Bastrop faces similar healthcare gaps, framing Manor's 50-bed hospital ambitions as part of a statewide reckoning with suburban growth, public safety, and public health. Harvey emphasized that the push to diversify the tax base beyond residential property and recoup sales tax revenue committed away in a 1985 vote is central to Manor's strategy. The city's first-ever comprehensive plan, a 600-page document mapping the next 30 years of growth, guides these efforts.
The Building Texas Show, sponsored by Chisos Boots, travels the state to spotlight the mayors, builders, employers, and civic leaders shaping Texas communities. This episode with Manor Mayor Dr. Chris Harvey is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and on YouTube.
