 The tremendous growth in these neighboring counties was part of a larger explosion in exurban growth throughout the nation over the last decade which coincided with the real estate bust in 2007.In North Texas, exurban growth was accelerated by transportation infrastructure expansion including the extensions of U.S. 75 north and the Dallas North Tollway in the mid 1990s, and the completion of the George Bush Turnpike after 2001.These and other enhancements opened up vast tracts of farmland to new housing developments.