2004 Charlotte Metro pop.

[dubone]

american culture... the short commute is the first thing to go when making sacrifices.

[monsoon]

Actually there was a story posted here on UrbanPlanet about a year or so ago about people commuting here from the RDU area. They commuted via the NC Railroad which runs two trains/day between Charlotte and RDU. Trains were packed.

[krazeeboi]

many chose to commute the hour from winston, but keep their low cost of living, good schools, quality of life, and possibly spouse's job...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, a co-worker in my former department at my job (located in Charlotte) commutes from Winston-Salem, and she works 3rd shift at that. She's been doing it for at least 10 years. A fraternity brother of mine lives in Rock Hill and drives to Columbia every day for work, that's a 45 minute to an hour drive. I just don't see how these people do it.

[dubone]

if the south east high speed rail corridor is built, the trains will only be more packed with commuters from the triangle, triad, salisbury, kannapolis and concord.

the commuting picture will only get cloudier as all these metros grow so close to eachother. sadly, i think we are a decade away from a raleigh to atlanta megalopolis (and likely into alabama, and beyond).

[ncguy06]

Dang, Im from Winston-Salem and if I had to drive to Charlotte everyday I think I would go crazy!!!!

It's too long of a drive, I don't see how the people do it.

[dubone]

i know what you mean... i wouldn't commute that far, either...

but for many people, if they have kids in what they perceive are great schools, and they like their house, etc... an hour-long commute is not that high for many people.

Many americans will trade a short commute for a bigger house, non-urban schools, and non-urban lifestyle, and that has created such a muddle population picture, as people commute counties away.

[teshadoh]

But don't forget many that commute to Charlotte from Rock Hill or Kannapolis does it out of neccessity. Not all commuters are recent residents that have chosen these towns to live in, but long time residents that have limited employment options in their hometown. I would imagine what proliferated the concept of Charlotte metro sprawling 15 to 20 years ago was primarily that there were so many out of work ex-textile workers that drove to Charlotte for the nearest job.

This is the case for several other southern cities, where the traditional rural economies of manufacturing & agriculture is nearly dead. Their options are to only to move to a bigger city, or drive to the nearest big city for work.

[dubone]

good point.

i think that has the potential for increasing dramatically as catawba, lincoln, davidson, and cabarrus counties are all continuing to lose their manufacturing employment.

in many ways, that was also my point about w-s... there aren't a whole lot of white collar/hq jobs to replace the ones that have been lost to charlotte and others over the last decade. so many of those workers are doing something similar when they commute down here.

[pb4uxplode]

I don't think that the reason behind why people commute should really be considered when looking at the metro areas. Take New York City for example. The metro area includes people way out in Long Island as being a part of the metro area. I don't know how many people have been to NYC, but people from far out on the island travel about two hours each way to get to and from work. There it is not a matter of not being able to work out on the island, but simply the opportunity to make more money. People from Lincoln and Iredell county travel a shorter distance and I can't see a logical reason why they shouldn't count towards the Charlotte metro population. Despite the fact that they are not currently included, I think its safe to give Charlotte metro a population of over two million when comparing it to any other metro area.

[johnhowell]

I don't think that the reason behind why people commute should really be considered when looking at the metro areas. Take New York City for example. The metro area includes people way out in Long Island as being a part of the metro area. I don't know how many people have been to NYC, but people from far out on the island travel about two hours each way to get to and from work. There it is not a matter of not being able to work out on the island, but simply the opportunity to make more money. People from Lincoln and Iredell county travel a shorter distance and I can't see a logical reason why they shouldn't count towards the Charlotte metro population. Despite the fact that they are not currently included, I think its safe to give Charlotte metro a population of over two million when comparing it to any other metro area.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The NYC area has continous sprawl. I don't think the same can be said about Charlotte and the surrounding micropolitan areas. Okay, the Census Bureau is wrong and you're right...

[Unifour]

The Charlotte Gastonia Rock Hill included 7 counties. It had a population of 1.5 million in 2000, and would today have one of 1.7 million. Did they actually shrink the Charlotte area? And Iredell county is the Statesville-Mooresville Metro. It is now a part of Charlotte's because the cross traffic between southern Iredell and Mecklenburg. Charlotte's CSA is over 2 million according to the census. Every other city uses the CSA number for bragging purposes, so I guess Charlotte can too. But I am confused about those new metro definitions. I've read somewhere that Charlotte now includes Stanley, Rowan, Lancaster, Cleveland, Iredell, and I think Lincoln too. Can anyone explain? I can't find any figures for metro areas on census.gov.

[atlrvr]

Ok......here it is.

Charlotte had 7 counties in the MSA in 2000, and now under the new definitions has only 6. Rowan and Lincoln were dropped and Anson was added.

You're correct that Charlotte would have around 1.7M is still using the 2000 definition.

The CSA uses a lower threshold for commuters to be considered (10 as opposed to 15 percent I believe, but Teshadoh probably knows exactly). Therefore, the CSA includes the entire MSA, plus Iredell, Rowan, Stanly, Cleveland, Lincoln, Lancaster, and Chester.

The CSA is a decent way to look at an area, because it does measure the true area that the core city affects, but in the fringe counties, most people rarely travel to Charlotte.

[sta8svil]

It's weird that Anson is in it, and I would have thought Iredell would be in it, maybe even Lincoln as well.  No doubt these counties will soon be absorbed into the MSA.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Statesville/ Mooresville Micropolitan Area(Iredell County) is already a part of the Charlotte Combined Statistical Area. I would love to see the entire CSA become the MSA. With an estimated population of 136,924 Iredell County is the largest contiguous non-metro member of the CSA. Let us in.

[dubone]

welcome to the forum sta8svil

[sta8svil]

The NYC area has continous sprawl.  I don't think the same can be said about Charlotte and the surrounding micropolitan areas.  Okay, the Census Bureau is wrong and you're right...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We have our share of sprawl in the Southern end of the County here in Iredell and 9600 commuters into Meck. daily. Charlotte's Core has more influence in our Micropolitan than Winston-Salem's influence over tiny Yadkin County(Triad Metro) just by the number of commuters and their impact on the infrastructure. And although the majority of people want to split Iredell into two distinct areas the 40 mile distance from Statesville into Uptown has become less of an issue as the city develops specialty amenities that draw people the same way that other large cities do.

[sta8svil]

welcome to the forum sta8svil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, I have come to share the jewel of the county of Iredell

[monsoon]

in many ways, that was also my point about w-s... there aren't a whole lot of white collar/hq jobs to replace the ones that have been lost to charlotte and others over the last decade.  so many of those workers are doing something similar when they commute down here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very true. However the new Lowes corporate HQ in Mt. Mourne would be an exception to this. Eventually there will be 8000 direct jobs there and maybe another 10K indirect jobs in the area.

[Unifour]

The CSA uses a lower threshold for commuters to be considered (10 as opposed to 15 percent I believe, but Teshadoh probably knows exactly).  Therefore, the CSA includes the entire MSA, plus Iredell, Rowan, Stanly, Cleveland, Lincoln, Lancaster, and Chester.

The CSA is a decent way to look at an area, because it does measure the true area that the core city affects, but in the fringe counties, most people rarely travel to Charlotte.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, that explains it for me. I was a bit shocked that they shrunk Charlotte. It strikes one as being much larger than that. I guess soon, as it expands, all those CSA counties will be included. Charlotte is growing mostly to the north and Iredell is next in line I would imagine... It's the next door county to me. I'm in Alexander.

[Unifour]

shrunk = SHRANK! Gee whiz!

[sta8svil]

Very true.  However the new Lowes corporate HQ in Mt. Mourne would be an exception to this.  Eventually there will be 8000 direct jobs there and maybe another 10K indirect jobs in the area.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I forsee an increase in the number of out-commuting for Mecklenburg,Cabarrus,and Lincoln.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

Charlotte is growing mostly to the north and Iredell

Are you sure? Union County is the fastest growing county in NC and South Eastern Charlotte is not exactly standing still.

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, the Fort Mill area is getting quite a bit of the significant southeast Charlotte spillover.

[M. Brown]

I decided to look at Charlotte Chamber's website becuase they always post population estimates. Is the Chamber's est of 632,760 realistic?

[atlrvr]

The city's planning department (which is much more scientific about its estimates) puts the Charlotte pop at 651,000 AFTER the June 30th (2005) annexation......so the Chamber's number is a fairly realistic pre-annexation number.

[atlrvr]

There is a map of the proposed 2007 annexations floating around on the cities website, though I have no idea how to link to it since it is buried in some .PDF. It is a much larger annexation than the current one, and I would estimate would add about 25,000 people currently, much less the growth that will occur in these areas over the next 2 years.

I think it's reasonable to expect the Charlotte population to be about 800,000 by the end of the decade, with about 925,000 in the county.......Charlotte should be maxed out in size by the 2011 annexation.