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Does anybody feel that Wilmington, NC metro will soon merge with Myrtle Beach?


CapeFearRiver10

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I was just looking at the Carolina map on mapquest & notice that the two cities could one day be as one. With all the major development thats going on in those two region I feel it will soon be a reality. Think about it this way Mrytle Beach being the entertainment side, & Wilmington have the high-end jobs.

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Brunswick County is enormous. But you never know. If some major development were to occur that draw futher investment in real estate and some corporate companies. If Southport actually becomes a major port in NC that may play a factor. Brunswick county is one of the largest counties in the state to my understanding.

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I would like to see some sort of regional rail connecting Wilmington with Myrtle beach one day. It could have connections with the planned inter city rail planned from Raleigh to Wilmington. With Wilmington and New Brunswick county you have an established city with density and with Myrtle Beach you have a major tourist destination. Both areas are seeing good population growth.

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No, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach will always be two seperate metro areas. In between Shallotte and Bolivia will be the cut off point between the two cities if suburbia/sprawl overlaps each other. There are plans to "superstreet" US 17 through the large majority of its route between SC and US 74 by eliminating traffic signals, closing off the intersections.

Prior to 1990, US 17 was all a two lane highway and VERY rural out there. The growth that has taken place out there is unbelievable ever since the mid 90s!

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I don't see it happening. There is a great deal of remote areas between the two areas now. The coastline is always ripe for development, but as far as "metro areas" are concerned. I think it is highly unlikely.

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I don't see it happening. There is a great deal of remote areas between the two areas now. The coastline is always ripe for development, but as far as "metro areas" are concerned. I think it is highly unlikely.

I think that one day the coastline will be developed all the way from Wilmington to Myrtle Beach. That is becoming a hot stretch of coast gaining momentum from SC's Grand Strand. I think New Hanover County and Wilmington should merge but that just MHO. If some major development comes like maybe a Disney Park between the two areas, some Major tourist attraction like Atlantic City with Casinos etc, or a huge resort then yes we may have the possibilities merging. Basically I'm saying that it would take multiple economic catalyst along with industry to merge the two metros. Brunswick County is HUGE. It seems like it takes forever to get from Downtown Wilmington to the SC line.

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I think that one day the coastline will be developed all the way from Wilmington to Myrtle Beach. That is becoming a hot stretch of coast gaining momentum from SC's Grand Strand. I think New Hanover County and Wilmington should merge but that just MHO. If some major development comes like maybe a Disney Park between the two areas, some Major tourist attraction like Atlantic City with Casinos etc, or a huge resort then yes we may have the possibilities merging. Basically I'm saying that it would take multiple economic catalyst along with industry to merge the two metros. Brunswick County is HUGE. It seems like it takes forever to get from Downtown Wilmington to the SC line.

Too many what if's. When I think of merging metros I think of DC to Boston and from West Palm Beach to Miami. Maybe LA to San Diego, but other than that, I see little potential for merging of metros across the country.

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Too many what if's. When I think of merging metros I think of DC to Boston and from West Palm Beach to Miami. Maybe LA to San Diego, but other than that, I see little potential for merging of metros across the country.

Yeah I only had the what ifs to show all that it would take for the merging of the Wilmington and Myrtle Beach metros to happen. I personally do not feel the two metros will not merge for a very long time. Eventhough Wilmington and Myrtle Beach aren't as large as LA, San Diego, or Boston they are still metros.

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Trenton and Newark

About 10 years ago, yea. You can thank the sprawlopolous townships of West Windsor, South Brunswick and Plainsboro filling in the rural gaps between NYC and Philadelphia.

It would be safe to say between Elkton, MD and just east of New Haven, CT would be all uninterrupted sprawl.

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About 10 years ago, yea. You can thank the sprawlopolous townships of West Windsor, South Brunswick and Plainsboro filling in the rural gaps between NYC and Philadelphia.

It would be safe to say between Elkton, MD and just east of New Haven, CT would be all uninterrupted sprawl.

My aunt lives in plainsboro....where the roads seem more rural than some in NC especially heading towards US 130 around Cranberry. The sprawl out there is very thick. Convenience to NJ Transit Bus and Rail only adds to the sprawl I know many people who commute 80+ miles one way to Manhattan daily. There sin't much of the gap from Philadelphia to NYC is filled now. JUst travel along US 1.

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About 10 years ago, yea. You can thank the sprawlopolous townships of West Windsor, South Brunswick and Plainsboro filling in the rural gaps between NYC and Philadelphia.

It would be safe to say between Elkton, MD and just east of New Haven, CT would be all uninterrupted sprawl.

You're right. I checked Google maps, and there's a connection if you stay in Pennsylvennia until Trenton. The NJ Turnpike route, however, is empty in places after entering lower NJ.

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Myrtle Beach is 30-story hotels on the beach, cheap swimwear shops on every corner and every attraction sits on 20 acres of parking.

Wilmington is a charming riverside city with cobblestone alleys, delicious seafood and a great pedestrian climate.

They're really opposites from one another.

One note: LA and San Diego really can't merge into one metro area. They're separated by a naval base.

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Shouldn't it almost be Richmond/Pertersburg to Boston, not just DC to Boston now? Yeah, there is that one rural county, Carolina County, VA, separating DC Metro from Richmond Metro, but Caroline won't be rural much longer.

It already is by some estimations. Every time I drive I-95 it's bumper to bumper traffic from Ric all the way to the beltway. Hell sometimes it's even worse THAN the beltway! :wacko: You're right unfortunately that rural area's days are numbered, which sucks because it's really a nice area too :( I can remember when Hwy 29, which runs through VA to the west of Richmond was all rural and unspoiled. Now it's lined by pure sprawling crap.

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A MSA is a linking of economies where there are significant numbers of commuters traveling from one point in the MSA to another with the minimum size being one county. Counties are not added to an MSA specifically because its population goes up. There also has to be commuters.

Myrtle Beach's and Wilmington's economies are not linked to each other and there is not any significant commuting going on between the two places. As a result there isn't going to be a Myrtle Beach-Wilmington MSA. They may be linked together in a CSA but that is even doubtful. New Hanover county has 173k people, Brunswick 85K and Horry has 214K people. Horry is one of the largest counties land wise on the east coast so that 214K is spread over 1100 square miles. It seems a bit premature to be talking about this for this area.

DC, while a nice urban place, is surrounded by really bad car oriented sprawl. Its a shame that it is continuing to spread more counties being added to its MSA is a bad thing.

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