Forget downtown or the 'burbs. The far-flung exurbs are where people are moving

FILE - A tongue-in-cheek sign referencing what someday might be the heart of the sprawling metro areas of Orlando and Tampa is seen, installed by a private landowner, along Interstate 4 in Polk City, Fla., Oct. 24, 2002. (AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove, File)

HAINES CITY, Fla. (AP) - Not long ago, Polk County's biggest draw was citrus instead of people. Located between Tampa and Orlando, Florida's citrus capital produces more boxes of citrus than any other county in the state and has devoted tens of thousands of acres to growing millions of trees.

But last year, more people moved to the county than to any other in the United States, almost 30,000.

Bulldozed citrus groves in recent years made way for housing and big box stores that could one day merge the two metropolitan areas into what has half-jokingly been dubbed, "Orlampa."

The migration - and property sprawl - reflects a significant kind of growth seen all over the country this decade: the rise of the far-flung exurbs.

Outlying communities on the outer margins of metro areas - some as far away as 60 miles (97 kilometers) from a city's center - had some of the fastest-growing populations last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Those communities are primarily in the South, like Anna on the outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area; Fort Mill, South Carolina, outside Charlotte, North Carolina; Lebanon outside Nashville; and Polk County's Haines City.

For some residents, like Marisol Ortega, commuting to work can take up to an hour and a half one-way. But Ortega, who lives in Haines City about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from her job in Orlando, says it's worth it.

"I love my job. I love what I do, but then I love coming back home, and it's more tranquil," Ortega said.

Marisol Ortega, a Polk County resident that commutes to her job in Orlando walks at a park Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A pandemic exodus and more

The rapid growth of far-flung exurbs is an after-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Census Bureau, as rising housing costs drove people further from cities and remote working allowed many to do their jobs from home at least part of the week.

Polk County's Hispanic population has grown from one-fifth to more than one-quarter of the overall population over the past five years, driven by Puerto Rican migration from the island after 2017's Hurricane Maria and then from New York during the pandemic.

The county has grown more diverse with the share of non-Hispanic white residents dropping from 61% to 54%, and it has also gotten more educated and wealthier, according to the Census Bureau. Despite the influx of new people, the county's Republican leanings have remained relatively unchanged.

Yeseria Suero and her family moved from New York to Polk County at the start of the decade after falling in love with the pace of life and affordability during a visit. Still, there were some cultural adjustments: restaurants closing early, barbecue and boiled peanuts everywhere, strangers chatting with her at the grocery store. Suero is now involved with the tight-knit Hispanic community and her two boys are active in sports leagues.

"My kids now say, 'Yes, ma'am,'" she said.

FILE - A "For Sale" sign sits among an acreage of orange trees in Bartow, Fla., Oct. 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

Recent hurricanes and citrus diseases in Florida also have made it more attractive for some Polk County growers to sell their citrus groves to developers who build new residences or stores.

Over the past decade, citrus-growing there declined from 81,800 acres (33,103 hectares) and almost 10 million trees in 2014 to 58,500 acres (23,674 hectares) and 8.5 million trees in 2024, according to federal agricultural statistics.

"It hasn't been a precipitous conversion of citrus land for growth," said Matt Joyner, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, a grower's group. "But certainly you see it in northern, northeastern Polk."

The newly-constructed The Brightly Apartments rises from what was formally a citrus grove nearby Haines City, Florida Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Schneider)

An exurb of an exurb

Anna, Texas, more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of downtown Dallas, is seeing the same kind of migration.

It was the fourth-fastest growing city in the U.S. last year and its population has increased by a third during the 2020s to 27,500 residents. Like Polk County, Anna has gotten a little older, richer and more racially diverse. Close to 3 in 5 households have moved into their homes since 2020, according to the Census Bureau.

Schuyler Crouch, 29, and his wife wanted to buy a house in a closer-in exurb like Frisco, where he grew up, so they could settle down and start a family. But prices there have skyrocketed because of population growth.

In Anna, they fell in love last year with a house that was more reasonably priced. They both work in Frisco, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away, and it has become their go-to for eating out or entertainment instead of downtown Dallas, even though not long ago Frisco itself was considered a far-flung outpost of the metro area.

Still, Crouch said he has noticed the exurbs keep getting pushed further north as breakneck growth makes affordable housing out of reach in neighborhoods once considered on the fringes of the metro area.

"The next exurb we are going to be living in is Oklahoma," he joked.