Census Bureau puts NC at No. 7 in 2030

[AuLukey]

You can see that from I-85. I drove to Birmingham this weekend from Charlotte. Went through Greenville and was astounded at the length of development between Greenville and Spartanburg. It goes on for miles and miles. It cold easily look like 85 north of ATL in 30 years if they do not contain it.

A2

Naw, by that time I-85 will just become one continuous sprawly city from Durham, NC to Newman, GA.

[DaltonGA]

Naw, by that time I-85 will just become one continuous sprawly city from Durham, NC to Newman, GA.

Forget it stopping at Newnan, Ga it will at least go to Opelika/Auburn, AL if not all the way to Montgomery.

The stretch of I-85 between Petersburg, VA to Durham, NC is very rural but a sprawl string city along the entire length of I-85 is very possible though scary.

[Brent]

Don't look for any development between Petersburg and Raleigh ever. Southside VA will be the last undeveloped place on the Piedmont.

Richmond's orientation is to the north, Raleigh's to the south providing a nice buffer between the economic engines of the Mid-Atlantic /North and the South.

I wouldn

[atlrvr]

You're kidding right? First of all, a majority of the growth in population in NC is from people migrating from the North, not natural increase. Secondly, my wife and I just moved to Boston, and my wife had to explain to a room full of employees of a large NYSE traded company what a Portobello mushroom is, so I'm not too sure that being southern bred is a handicap, no matter what the national media portrays. The questions I get from native Northerners are hilarious.

[wrldcoupe4]

I think he was talking about society in general, and not just southerners. Upper socioeconomic levels = less children than lower socioeconomic levels.

I agree that relocation is a major reason for population growth, at least in many southern states and its something that should be taken into consideration.

Still, there's not much between Petersburg and Raleigh.

[mallguy]

This soaring population sounds like NC will be another state-wide version of Atlanta or New Jersey by 2030, which will not be good. If people from the Northeast and elsewhere want to come to North Carolina, so be it; I moved to the state from elsewhere, so I can't criticize domestic migration too much. But of course we cannot criticize immigration policies, or Senate legislation supported by Pres. Bush, Lindsey Graham of SC, Ted Kennedy of MA, and others that will significantly increase immigration levels and thus population growth, or even point out that open-door immigration policies play a major role in US population growth. That's taboo.

[BHCav]

28+ mil in Florida? I can actually see it being more than that, but considering the state already feels overcrowded to me I probably won't be living here at that time.

[bobdreamz]

^ I would have to agree with you on Florida....the fact that we will have another 10 to 11 million people is actually scary. All of the growth is taking place in the urban areas for the most part. Orlando is booming like crazy and I can see a metro of 4-5 million easily by 2030.

As for NC well I know growth is good for most states but controlled steady growth is better than what we are seeing here in Florida.

[AuLukey]

^ I would have to agree with you on Florida....the fact that we will have another 10 to 11 million people is actually scary. All of the growth is taking place in the urban areas for the most part. Orlando is booming like crazy and I can see a metro of 4-5 million easily by 2030.

As for NC well I know growth is good for most states but controlled steady growth is better than what we are seeing here in Florida.

With all the money, Florida is probably the only state out there that can handle growth at that rate. Added infrastructure and schools is right up their alley. NC wouldn't be able to handle growth at the rate Florida does. At least one Bush is doing something right down there.

[Brent]

No I'm not kidding. Middle and upper class white and black people are not breeding. The population estimates aren't based on northern migration to the south but represent low wage earners migrating to developing areas for low skills jobs and migration to big agriculture states. Sure some smart, savvy folks are moving too but not to the tune of 4 million to NC in the next 20 years. Smart savvy people still earn better wages in NJ. There isn't much incentive for them to leave. People migrate to better areas, not worse. It is taboo to talk about it but any states growing at any considerable rate aren

[Durhamite]

No I'm not kidding. Middle and upper class white and black people are not breeding. The population estimates aren't based on northern migration to the south but represent low wage earners migrating to developing areas for low skills jobs and migration to big agriculture states. Sure some smart, savvy folks are moving too but not to the tune of 4 million to NC in the next 20 years. Smart savvy people still earn better wages in NJ. There isn't much incentive for them to leave. People migrate to better areas, not worse. It is taboo to talk about it but any states growing at any considerable rate aren

[mallguy]

deleted

[Brent]

Perhaps you should have gone to Old Dominion, I could barely understand a word that you wrote. But leaving the state of NC isn

[monsoon]

No I'm not kidding. Middle and upper class white and black people are not breeding. The population estimates aren't based on northern migration to the south but represent low wage earners migrating to developing areas for low skills jobs and migration to big agriculture states. Sure some smart, savvy folks are moving too but not to the tune of 4 million to NC in the next 20 years. Smart savvy people still earn better wages in NJ. There isn't much incentive for them to leave. People migrate to better areas, not worse. It is taboo to talk about it but any states growing at any considerable rate aren