2010 urbanized area figures

[GvilleSC]

Thanks Krazee.

I guess I would have thought that Woodruff Rd's connections to Mauldin via Tanner Rd (?) and others would string together enough, as well as connections from the Greer/Taylors side of things...? Verdae and ICAR/Millennium Campus will solidify things for sure though.

[CorgiMatt]

They're talking about strictly urbanized, not suburbanized, areas. Lots of Charleston's housing developments are urban, not suburban, by design. Other S.C. MSA's have made some recent gains in the urban vs. suburban arena as well.

[Spartan]

I think that with Verdae, ICAR, Greenridge, The Pointe, and all of the other development that has occurred on and around the land that was being held by the Hollingsworth Estate, we should see Mauldin and Greenville as one urban area in 2010.

However, Mauldin and Simpsonville could 'technically' opt out of that, because having a separate own urban area can translate to separate funding sources from the federal government.

[GvilleSC]

They're talking about strictly urbanized, not suburbanized, areas. Lots of Charleston's housing developments are urban, not suburban, by design. Other S.C. MSA's have made some recent gains in the urban vs. suburban arena as well.

What are you saying here?

[monsoon]

They're talking about strictly urbanized, not suburbanized, areas. .

The US definition of urbanized area, the one posted from the census above, uses the definition of "Core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile (386 per square kilometer) and surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile (193 per square kilometer)."

500 people/sq mile is not very urban. It's not even very suburban. If you are looking to compare the urban nature of cities, then urbanized area as it is used in the USA isn't a real effective way to do it.

[krazeeboi]

I think that with Verdae, ICAR, Greenridge, The Pointe, and all of the other development that has occurred on and around the land that was being held by the Hollingsworth Estate, we should see Mauldin and Greenville as one urban area in 2010.

However, Mauldin and Simpsonville could 'technically' opt out of that, because having a separate own urban area can translate to separate funding sources from the federal government.

I don't think that ICAR, Greenridge, or the Pointe will contribute to any connection of the Greenville and Mauldin-Simpsonville UAs because UAs are based on a certain population density. Verdae will help with that connection though.

And I didn't think that there could be any opting out of UAs, only MSAs/CSAs?

[GvilleSC]

I don't think that ICAR, Greenridge, or the Pointe will contribute to any connection of the Greenville and Mauldin-Simpsonville UAs because UAs are based on a certain population density. Verdae will help with that connection though.

Greenridge will not. Though, apartments at the Point actually just started construction. I think the jobs from Millennium Campus and CU-ICAR will increase housing in the immediate vicinity. In particular, St Francis' hospital and offices will increase the appeal for many. Millennium Apartments is essentially a direct result of the area's rapid development and sits just across Laurens Rd from ICAR.

Right now, a good amount of housing exists across the interstate behind the Carolina First Campus, which is really a relatively thin strip of land. Once Verdae builds up some more, the only thing separating the Greenville and Mauldin will not be a vast forest land and interstate, it will simply be the interstate.

Not to mention that Mauldin has approved their plans for a complete overhaul of Main Street (Laurens Rd). They're trying to attract people their way from ICAR, and I think it will really build density on the Greenville side of things. Give it several years and I think we'll see it all come together. There's way too much chemistry for nothing to happen.

[krazeeboi]

^I think that Verdae, being as large as it's planned to be, could possibly almost singlehandedly connect the two UAs. The other, smaller developments and existing residential tracts that you mentioned will only help with that. Given the state of the economy right now, it's just more of a question of when. It may or may not happen before the next census.

[digital_sandlapper]

In case any of you missed this, the Census Bureau made changes to two of our state

[Spartan]

Thanks for this info.

Perhaps my understanding of what makes a principle city is wrong. How can Summerville be a principle city when Mount Pleasant is larger?

[GvilleSC]

Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway is a mouthful.

[digital_sandlapper]

Thanks for this info.

Perhaps my understanding of what makes a principle city is wrong. How can Summerville be a principle city when Mount Pleasant is larger?

Hey, that's right! That is odd . . . MP does have a bigger population than Summerville.

[waverider]

Hey, that's right! That is odd . . . MP does have a bigger population than Summerville.

I pulled this from The US Census website:

The largest city in each metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area is designated a "principal city." Additional cities qualify if specified requirements are met concerning population size and employment. The title of each metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area consists of the names of up to three of its principal cities and the name of each state into which the metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area extends. Titles of metropolitan divisions also typically are based on principal city names but in certain cases consist of county names.

So maybe MP isn't included because more residents travel elsewhere for work?

[CorgiMatt]

Could be, but I saw on the Post and Courier's website that an article is coming soon about the Summerville housing market. Last month the number of applications to build a house in Summerville was 0. And it was Charleston's new boom town.

[monsoon]

^If you read further on that site you will find that it is also subject to local considerations. These definitions are not set in stone and vary somewhat throughout the country. Some of the micro areas don't want to be included in the nearby metro area because they think they are better off being independent and the the feds will take that into account. A primary example of this is Iredell county which is next to Charlotte. The largest city is Statesville and their chamber of commerce routinely advertises it as the center of one of the largest micropolitian areas in the country.

[krazeeboi]

Well, the 2010 urbanized area figures have been released: http://www.census.go...ruralclass.html

Here's where SC's largest rank, with change from 2000 in parentheses:

1) Columbia: 549,777 (+129,240)

2) Charleston: 548,404 (+124,994)

3) Greenville: 400,492 (+98,298)

4) Myrtle Beach: 215,304 (+92,320)

5) Spartanburg: 180,786 (+35,728)

6) Mauldin-Simpsonville: 120,577 (+42,746)

7) Rock Hill: 104,996 (+34,989)

8) Florence: 89,557 (+22,243)

9) Anderson: 75,702 (+5,226)

So since 2000, Columbia crept ahead of Charleston and Myrtle Beach leaped ahead of Spartanburg. I'm not sure if Mauldin-Simpsonville is set to be folded into Greenville as of yet.

It's rather amusing looking at the older posts in this thread and the predictions about 2010 and comparing those to the actual 2010 numbers.

[CorgiMatt]

It's good to see some strong figures for urban growth in each SC metro.

[Spartan]

It's disappointing to see Spartanburg overtaken by Myrtle Beach. It makes sense if you look at the growth down there, and it speaks to Spartanburg's backwards ways of doing things.

I wonder if the Myrtle Beach area will hit a peak in their growth over the next decade? I feel like there has to be some distance to travel time ratio to the beach that will ultimately impact the amount of people that will want to live there unless their non-tourism sectors of the economy start to take off.

[krazeeboi]

^You didn't think it would happen this Census given your previous posts on the subject in this thread, but I definitely saw the handwriting on the wall.

It's funny that everyone predicted that Charleston would widen the gap between it and Columbia, but Columbia wound up sneaking past Charleston by about 1,000 people; in 1990, Charleston's UA was bigger by about 65K people. And no one predicted that most of the UAs would be as high as they are.

In 1990, the UAs of Augusta, Chattanooga, Jackson, MS, and Shreveport were all bigger than Greenville's, and Greenville's has surpassed them, not even counting Mauldin-Simpsonville. Without looking at the numbers, I'm sure this happened by the 2000 Census, but the gap has definitely widened since then.

In 1990, Raleigh's UA was actually less than Charleston's and Columbia's. In 2000, it was bigger by about 120K people and now it's bigger by about 340K.

[B&R]

Some things that caught my eye -

The very strong growth for Columbia, Charleston, Greenville (and Mauldin-Simpsonville) and Myrtle Beach.

The slow growth for Anderson. I suppose that means most Anderson County growth has been in the Greenville UA.

About 60% of the population of the Rock Hill UA is within the Rock Hill city limits - certainly an outlier from the usual pattern in South Carolina. Does the Charlotte UA abut the Rock Hill UA?

I doubt Myrtle Beach will maintain the same type of growth rate if it is reliant on vacation and retirement community growth. People who want to live near the beach will find other coastal counties as MB gets more crowded.

I looked through the UA numbers for some other places. Greenville was #103 largest in 2000. That ranking is going to be in the low 90s now. Besides Augusta and Chattanooga, Greenville is now larger than Mobile, Pensacola, Youngstown, Scranton, Flint, Spokane, Reno and a trio of California towns - Oxnard, Stockton, and Modesto.

We came within a whisker of surpassing Madison Wi, and Lancaster, Pa and just short of Syracuse.

All of those are just Greenville. That doesn't include Mauldin-Simpsonville.

[krazeeboi]

About 60% of the population of the Rock Hill UA is within the Rock Hill city limits - certainly an outlier from the usual pattern in South Carolina. Does the Charlotte UA abut the Rock Hill UA?

Yes, but not significantly so (like Concord):

[B&R]

Thanks for the map view. I am a little surprised. I expected to see the two UAs to be up against each other more - like Charlotte and Concord. It is interesting that Rock Hill has managed to annex more territory, relatively speaking, than other SC cities.

[krazeeboi]

Thanks for the map view. I am a little surprised. I expected to see the two UAs to be up against each other more - like Charlotte and Concord. It is interesting that Rock Hill has managed to annex more territory, relatively speaking, than other SC cities.

I'm not surprised that Rock Hill's UA doesn't share a sizable border with Charlotte's. For one, the cities of Charlotte and Concord are adjacent to each other while Rock Hill has Fort Mill in between it and Charlotte. The Fort Mill area has been growing rapidly, but there's still a lot of rural and undeveloped land around. Also, there are some sizable developments along the Concord/Charlotte border which helps to solidfy their UA connection, such as Concord Mills (and the surrounding retail) and Lowe's Motor Speedway.

[erm1981]

So if Greenville-Mauldin-Simpsonville would have been combined this time as one single urban area the total gained would equall 141,044 which is more than either Charleston or Columbia. I could see Greenville passing both of them if the growth continues and Greenville-Mauldin-Simpsonville get combined as more infill growth happens.

[krazeeboi]

So if Greenville-Mauldin-Simpsonville would have been combined this time as one single urban area the total gained would equall 141,044 which is more than either Charleston or Columbia. I could see Greenville passing both of them if the growth continues and Greenville-Mauldin-Simpsonville get combined as more infill growth happens.

Under the current rules, recognized urbanized areas remain independent entities, although we know that by this time, it's pretty much one with Greenville. Combined, the two did indeed register the highest growth rate. The Big Three all grew well over 100K. Can't say I was really expecting that.