Cotulla for the Texas Observer

I spent an afternoon in Cotulla for the Texas Observer last month. This tiny town south of San Antonio is known in my family as the epicenter of Pig Fest, aka, the La Salle Wild Hog Cook-off. We've spent many a chilly March weekend sampling the finest chili, stew, roast, tacos, sausage, you name it, and watching the hog-themed parade down Main Street.

Cotulla is a different place now. In the last two years the population has more than doubled from 4,000 to 10,000 due to the fracking of the Eagle Ford Shale. Temporary housing and hotels can't be built fast enough. Heavy equipment and truck traffic roar through Cotulla's only stop-light, snarling traffic and damaging roads. The locals are happy with the boosted economy and higher paying jobs in the oil fields, but there is a cost. You can read Alex Hannaford's article here.