Triad eventually being the largest metro in NC

[monsoon]

No I don't think you will see that. Once you get past Cabarrus county there isn't much off I-85 except for some billboards and BBQ joints until you get to Guiford county. There certainly isn't chance that you are going to see a built up continuous urban area between the two.

[cityboi]

I think it will happen over the next 30 years. The dividing line between the Triad and Charlotte (Metrolina) is the Davidson / Rowan county line on the river. Most of Davidson County along I-85 have a landscape of trees but I think once we see sprawl in Davidson County and Rowan County along I-85, it will be pretty much continuous sprawl between Charlotte and Greensboro. I-85 in the southern part of the Triad has a speed limit of 70 so its a much quicker drive from Greensboro to Charlotte. 15 years ago it was an hour and a half drive. Now I can get to Charlotte in a little over an hour. Danville, Virginia is much closer to Greensboro. That is about a 30 minute drive.

But I do see continuous sprawl happening between the Triad and Triangle before it ever happens between Greensboro and Charlotte. As it is, the only real big gap between the Greensboro and Durham is east of Burlington and west of Chapel Hill which is a 15 mile stretch without sprawl. The distance between Greensboro and Durham is like the same distance between Charlotte and Salisbury. So its not really a far drive at all from Greensboro to Durham. Greensboro and Burlington are rapidly growing together. Burlington just recently annexed west past the Guilford County line. Continous sprawl between Winston-Salem and Raleigh is coming and its coming faster than you think.

[DanRNC]

There are already companies that do this "design" work. Whats the novelty? What does Greensboro offer? Why does it have to be centralized in Greensboro? NC A&T? Give me a break. NCSU has an excellent aerospace/aeronautical engineering program. A company in Raleigh actually designed the software that assisted in the repairs on the last mission.

Plus, whats the long-term viability of the space program any way-at least in its present form? Is it economically viable to have an entire sector dependent on government spending? Probably not. Just because NASA collaborates with a school on a project doesn't mean they are going to set up operations there. They actually do projects with hundreds of colleges. Many are HBCs (historically black colleges) as is NC&T.

I agree with the other post-I guess its good to have dreams. And I will agree that Greensboro may hold the edge over Charlotte in the NC tech wars.

[cityboi]

I think the difference between what the Triad is doing and what Raleigh and some other cities have is the fact that Triad will create a cluster for this kind of industry just like the Triangle has a cluster of research firms. Many cities have research firms as well but what make the triangle a hub is the fact that it has such a large cluster of research firms.

[twincity]

interesting comments.

The Triad could pass Charlotte in population...

downtown Greensboro looks like downtown Atlanta at night...

the triad has the same amount of downtown projects as Charlotte... Only one Triad city is about to see an "Influx of Development" right now and still, its nothin compared to Charlotte

[cityboi]

If you compare the number of proposals of downtown Greensboro, WInston-Salem and Charlotte, its about the same number. The only thing is that Charlotte's proposal are of a larger scale (53 story condos and things of that nature) There are a number of identicle proposals as well. One example is the downtown greenway in Greensboro. It will be a loop around downtown but if you look at Charlotte's 2015 plan you'll see that it also has a greenway loop around uptown. Charlotte could be getting the NASCAR Hall of Fame. That is still up in the air because Daytona Beach and Atlanta are pretty competitve sites as well. Greensboro is getting the ACC Hall of Fame and construction is under way on the Internation Civil Rights Museum downtown. Like Charlotte, Greensboro has alot of downtown residential proposals. Greensboro's proposals are obviously on a smaller scale though. However there are rumors about a possible 18-story residential tower being built in downtown Winston-Salem.

If you go to downtown Greensboro at night, its packed with people and lines into night clubs extend for two blocks. Its alot like downtown Atlanta at night. Elm Street has bumper to bumper traffic after midnight just like Peachtree in Atlanta.

In terms of population, the Triad is already larger than the Triangle.

[NCMike1981]

it sounds as if cityboi should work for either the Guilford or Forsyth Chamber of Commerce :-p

[peaceloveunderstanding]

If you compare the number of proposals of downtown Greensboro, WInston-Salem and Charlotte, its about the same number. The only thing is that Charlotte's proposal are of a larger scale (53 story condos and things of that nature) There are a number of identicle proposals as well. One example is the downtown greenway in Greensboro. It will be a loop around downtown but if you look at Charlotte's 2015 plan you'll see that it also has a greenway loop around uptown. Charlotte could be getting the NASCAR Hall of Fame. That is still up in the air because Daytona Beach and Atlanta are pretty competitve sites as well. Greensboro is getting the ACC Hall of Fame and construction is under way on the Internation Civil Rights Museum downtown. Like Charlotte, Greensboro has alot of downtown residential proposals. Greensboro's proposals are obviously on a smaller scale though. However there are rumors about a possible 18-story residential tower being built in downtown Winston-Salem.

If you go to downtown Greensboro at night, its packed with people and lines into night clubs extend for two blocks. Its alot like downtown Atlanta at night. Elm Street has bumper to bumper traffic after midnight just like Peachtree in Atlanta.

In terms of population, the Triad is already larger than the Triangle.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ah but if a city is going to be the biggest soon they should start doing things on a grand scale, right?

[MZT]

I have to admit, what Cityboi is describing about dowtown Greensboro just doesn't jibe in my head. B) I still think of it as being utterly deserted after 6PM. But I have not lived there now for 13 years...

[skysdalimit]

I don't want to be mean, but I really don't see the Triad ever becoming larger than the Triangle and certainly not Charlotte. It has it's good points (does it really have more biotech than the Charlotte area? if it does, well I'll give it to them), but then again, anything the Triad has, Charlotte or the Triangle have tenfold. Like:

Univerities: Triad has Wake Forest, which is the only real prestigious university in the area. It has NC A&T, UNCG, and High Point University. No offense, but I don't see many real brainiacs going there. The Triangle leads NC in this department, with UNC, Duke, and NCSU. Charlotte has a few universities, such as UNCC, Johnson & Wales, and Queens. I might place Charlotte and the Triad fairly even in that department.

Business: Sure, the Triad has a few powerful businesses, like BB&T and, um, well...I can't think of any others. The Triangle is big in biotech as mentioned above, no one in NC can surpass that. But the king of business in the state is obviously Charlotte. Second largest banking center in the US with BofA and Wachovia. One of the nation's leaders in Fortune 500 companies. Major energy constituents like Duke Energy. No one will EVER pass Charlotte in this category.

Sports/Entertainment: Well the Triangle has many college sports, the Triad has a few college sports as well. However, when it comes to a city's importance, major league sports tell the big story. While Raleigh has (a somewhat poorly attended and almost bankrupt) Carolina Hurricanes NHL team, Charlotte is home of the NFL Carolina Panthers, our country's most popular sports league. It is also home to the new NBA Charlotte Bobcats, who open this year in the new Uptown Arena. Charlotte also has minor league teams in all other sports, and an MLB or NHL team move to Charlotte would not be surprising. The Triad has rather mediocre entertainment options. The Triangle fares a bit better with all the college students, however Charlotte once again leads the pack. Uptown is BOOMING with people and excitement. The suburbs too have a plethora of entertainment options, and this is just getting better. NASCAR is home to Charlotte with 90% of all race teams residing in the Charlotte metro. The NASCAR HoF may come to Charlotte, and that will also be a big boost to tourism. While the Triad has good growth, the Triangle and Charlotte are exploding. And while the Triangle has mainly suburban growth, Charlotte has both and its urban population is swelling. Over 7 condo towers have been proposed or are under construction over the past year. More are sure to come, and there is no end in sight.

So, no, I don't think the Triad will surpass the Triangle, especially not Charlotte.

The End.

[IBruton]

In terms of population, the Triad is already larger than the Triangle.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Triad is NOT larger than the Triangle in population, but I believe it is in land area.

Here are the latest population figures that I could find from US Census Bureau 2000:

Triangle: Raleigh-Durham-Cary

NC Combined Statistical Area 1,314,589

Triad: Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point

NC Combined Statistical Area 1,283,856

Again, these numbers are now five years old. The last unofficial number I saw for the Triangle CSA was 1,495,000 and for the Triad CSA was 1,300,000.

Hope this helps.

[twincity]

thats one thing cityboi is right about. the Triad is larger than the Triangle...barely. Alamance Co. was added to the metro a couple years ago. and it pushed the metro to 2nd place. i said the triangle was larger in an earlier post by mistake.

also the Triad business strength is arguable. i think alot of people are forgetting VF, Jefferson Pilot, ReynoldsAmerican (2nd largest in US) Sara Lee Branded Apparel and of course BB&T (10th largest in US) are Hq'ed here. thats a healthy number of fortune 500's for a metro this size. also smaller, but powerful companies call W-S and GSO home. Krispy Kreme, Volvo Trucks, Blue Rhino and RF Micro Devices are some. as for the Triangle, Durham had CCB but now its gone, Raleigh has Progress Energy and i think another HQ? not really a competition when it comes to big companies. One could argue that the Triad is not too far behind Charlotte?

the triangle probably beats out 90% of the US when it comes to the concentration of high-quality universities in a metro. but still, dont count the Triad out in the higher education field. "Brainiacs" like someone stated, dont only go to Wake Forest around here. NCA&T is one of the top engineering schools in the nation, ranks as one of the best univerites for blacks and one is of the largest HBCU's in the country. A&T has produced a presidential candidate, astronauts, civil rights leaders. This school has even help change the state of America. I wont go into detail, but look up the history of Scott Hall and the "Greensboro Four." That sounds like prestige to me. Anybody who goes there should be proud to be an Aggie.

Most of the Triad's universities are experiencing sudden growth...state and private. One school that really stands out is WSSU. Its the FASTEST growing university in the UNC system for the 3rd straight year. thats faster than both UNC and NCSU. Our schools may be smaller, but theyre not lesser. The only thing we lack is the enormous student population.

[monsoon]

NCSU's reputation as a great important engineering school only really exists in the minds of its graduates. Nationally it is not that well known.

[jervais]

monsoon is correct about NCSU not being well known nationally as far as an Engineering school, it is only in this region I've noticed that NCSU is really pumped up in North Carolina. From what I heard it is a good school but I believe A&T is an equal contender. I'm from Ga, but Triad is home now, and the schools I've often heard about were Ga-tech and MIT always and as far as black engineers A&T dominates in that area and that's a fact. I'm in the engineering program at A&T and we often have NCSU students taking summer courses here and it doesn't appear to be a cake walk for those students which I can assure it's not.

[ilektronik]

11.  New Bank of America Tower

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

there is going to be a new BofA tower?? I thought that idea was scraped in lieu of the new Ritz?

[DanRNC]

Reality:

Top National Universities (US News and World Report)

5. Duke University

27. Wake Forest

29. UNC Chapel Hill

Top Engineering Schools Nationally(US News and World Report) NC Schools:

32. Duke University

34. NCSU

Top Med Schools (Research)

6. Duke University

23. UNC Chapel Hill

41. Wake Forest

National Academy of Science Members (One of the highest academic honors for researchers in all sciences)

Duke: 18

UNC-Chapel Hill: 11

NCSU: 9

Nobel Laureates:

Duke: 1

NIEHS/UNC/Duke: 1

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Researchers

Duke: 10

UNC-Chapel Hill: 1

All other NC colleges and universities have none in any of these categories.

BTW HBCs are a joke. As someone in academia I know they have no reputation-admissions standards are so low anyone could walk of the street. Ditto for WSSU.

[jjasonham]

How does Elon rank? It's a growing private university with a new law school on the way.

BTW HBCs are a joke. As someone in academia I know they have no reputation-admissions standards are so low anyone could walk of the street. Ditto for WSSU.

That's a terrible thing to say about any institution. My father went to NC A&T and I disagree with that comment. I mean, what are your standards of judgment? Why is it a "joke"? Job placements? Rankings in polls? Reputation in Academia based on how much research has been put out? The quality of a person's education is not diminished because they go to a school that you don't think is good enough. Current rankings and views on a university have nothing to do with it's potential, or the effect it has on each student or community.

[twincity]

BTW HBCs are a joke. As someone in academia I know they have no reputation-admissions standards are so low anyone could walk of the street. Ditto for WSSU.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

no comment

[ngp]

Univerities: Triad has Wake Forest, which is the only real prestigious university in the area.  It has NC A&T, UNCG, and High Point University.  No offense, but I don't see many real brainiacs going there.  The Triangle leads NC in this department, with UNC, Duke, and NCSU.  Charlotte has a few universities, such as UNCC, Johnson & Wales, and Queens.  I might place Charlotte and the Triad fairly even in that department.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Triad is certainly better off than Charlotte when it comes to higher education. Wake Forest, as you said, has its own prestige. UNCG is consistently ranked as a Best Bargain by US News. NCSA is (or used to be, at least) one of the best art schools in the country.

Charlotte seriously needs to start improving its educational presence (at every level) in order to stay competitive with other cities.

No offense, but I don't see many real brainiacs going there.

Nice, that's the spirit. Way to summarily snub the time, effort, and money put forth by the tens of thousands of students, teachers, and faculty keeping those institutions up and running, which in turn generate economic prosperity for the communities around them.

[monsoon]

...The Triad is certainly better off than Charlotte when it comes to higher education. Wake Forest, as you said, has its own prestige. UNCG is consistently ranked as a Best Bargain by US News. ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is the second time that a US news magazine has been cited as an authority on the schools in NC.

Bargain?

UNCC Tuition and fees (2004) - $3419

UNCG Tuition and fees (2004) - $3384

Savings = $35

And there are 9 universities in the UNC system that have lower tuition than UNCG

[Lady Celeste]

BTW HBCs are a joke. As someone in academia I know they have no reputation-admissions standards are so low anyone could walk of the street. Ditto for WSSU.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow!

Such a blanket statement from someone in academia.

Wow!

[jb4563]

there is going to be a new BofA tower?? I thought that idea was scraped in lieu of the new Ritz?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not sure. I thought the 30 story building was still very early in the works and a seperate project.

[jb4563]

The Triad is certainly better off than Charlotte when it comes to higher education. Wake Forest, as you said, has its own prestige. UNCG is consistently ranked as a Best Bargain by US News. NCSA is (or used to be, at least) one of the best art schools in the country.

Charlotte seriously needs to start improving its educational presence (at every level) in order to stay competitive with other cities.

No offense, but I don't see many real brainiacs going there.

Nice, that's the spirit. Way to summarily snub the time, effort, and money put forth by the tens of thousands of students, teachers, and faculty keeping those institutions up and running, which in turn generate economic prosperity for the communities around them.

Shot in the dark here, but I'm guessing you went to or are somehow affiliated with UNC (disregard if you don't live in NC).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nice way to be hypocritical.

In one statement you essentially say Charlotte has nothing to offer compared to the grand metropolis of W-S in terms of high education.

Then right below that you talk about not "snub[ing] the time effort, and money put forth...".

[jb4563]

Reality:

Top National Universities (US News and World Report)

5. Duke University

27. Wake Forest

29. UNC Chapel Hill

Top Engineering Schools Nationally(US News and World Report) NC Schools:

32. Duke University

34. NCSU

Top Med Schools (Research)

6. Duke University

23. UNC Chapel Hill

41. Wake Forest

National Academy of Science Members (One of the highest academic honors for researchers in all sciences)

Duke: 18

UNC-Chapel Hill: 11

NCSU: 9

Nobel Laureates:

Duke: 1

NIEHS/UNC/Duke: 1

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Researchers

Duke: 10

UNC-Chapel Hill: 1

All other NC colleges and universities have none in any of these categories.

BTW HBCs are a joke. As someone in academia I know they have no reputation-admissions standards are so low anyone could walk of the street. Ditto for WSSU.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yea, Duke is such a great medical school...killing a little girl and cleaning medical instruments in grease....they sure are brainiacs.

And, you want to know why UNC-CH and NCSU are at the top of those lists? Because most of the General Assembly of NC graduated from those schools and they like to pour all the state's money into those schools while ignoring the other schools in the system...its their way of keeping Charlotte and its University off the map (and other state schools off the map).

Look at the recent attempt where they tried to allow UNC-CH and NCSU to set their own tuition without Board of Governors apporval...more special treatment for those schools.

If a school like UNC Charlotte was funded properly, it would rank just as high.

[NCMike1981]

I think it's odd that Burlington and Alamance County weren't including as the Triad for so long. Every time I pass from Orange County into Alamance County (which is not very often anymore), on either 85/40 or Hwy 70 I think "I'm not in the Triangle anymore, I'm in the Triad", as if it looks any different lol I really like the area in between Durham/Chapel Hill and Burlington, including Mebane/Hillsborough. It's kind of country, yet suburban in nature in many areas. There's some nice hilly landscape, especially in Orange County north of Chapel Hill. I'm not really as familiar with pretty areas in Alamance, except a section of 4 lane Hwy 70 in Haw River right b4 Burlington has some nice rolling views. I know that regulations in Orange County will sort of control any kind of a growth explosion there in the coming yrs, but I'm not so sure about Alamance. I think that county is much more pro-growth then Orange. I can't see Mebane controlling it's growh much at all, it seems like it's poised to be one of the next boomtowns in the Triad. Hillsborough, on the other hand welcomes growth in certain areas, but is very picky about what it wants built, and is not very residential development friendly, which explains why the towns population has been essentially flat the last few decades...