I’d watch both.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is in the middle of a major expansion that includes a new 26-gate Concourse B, a new Arrivals and Departures Hall, additional parking, baggage infrastructure and airfield improvements.

Now follow Highway 71 east from the airport toward Bastrop.

In 2026, roughly 500 acres of mixed-use projects were underway within about a three-mile stretch of Bastrop’s SH 71 corridor.

Those projects include combinations of housing, restaurants, retail, medical facilities, hospitality and other commercial development.

And that’s what catches my attention.

Housing tells you people are moving somewhere.

Housing plus jobs, retail, healthcare and infrastructure tells you something bigger may be happening.

It also changes how we think about location.

Someone living in Bastrop and working near AUS experiences Austin completely differently from someone commuting from Round Rock to Downtown.

So when someone asks me if an area is “too far out,” my question is:

Too far from what?

Austin is becoming less like one city surrounded by suburbs and more like a collection of interconnected employment and lifestyle centers.

And the corridor from Southeast Austin toward Bastrop is one I’ll be watching closely.