It’s lunch time in Forney, Texas and Patrick McCrea is busy behind the scenes tending to the hungry crowd. His restaurant Doe Belly’s Catfish Cafe is a popular spot.
“We try to greet them when they come in the door,” said McCrea, Owner of Doe Belly’s. “We try to learn all their names but it gets a little bit overwhelming trying to learn everybody’s names but we know faces. We don’t forget their faces.”
You can’t be to hard on McCrea for forgetting a few names especially since he lives in one of the fastest growing communities in North Texas. Forney’s population has grown from five thousand to fifteen thousand in just a decade.
“My parents moved to Forney in 1969,” said Darren Rozell, Mayor of Forney. “I was a year and a half old. I remember being eight nine years old walking around these downtown streets.”
Since 2001 the population of Forney has tripled making it the fastest growing city in Kaufman County and locals will tell you despite it’s growth, it hasn’t lost it’s small town charm.
“The barber’s in downtown Forney,” said Forney resident Dennis Holmes. “There’s not a lot of police force out tonight because it’s just family and friends so it’s great.”
J Stephen Sadler says when looking for a place to open his new Tasting Pavilion, Forney stood out.
“What made Forney different was that the whole town was committed to bringing someone down to their downtown,” said Sadler, Owner of Crumbzz.
Incentives to small business owners like Sadler is just one of many reasons the population is on the rise. Forney is just thirty minutes east of Dallas. So stop by, take in Forney’s history, and admire it’s future. Who knows? You may end up staying.
Watch the video in HD above produced by DFW Reporting Journalist Austin Wright and Photojournalist Chris Ghanbari . DFW Reporting is the only news team in Texas that only reports on positive news!
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![Fastest growing city in Kaufman County [HD]](/site/wp-content/gallery/thumbnails/forney_city_hall_mayor_darren_rozell-180x120.jpg)
