Jump to content

North Carolinas newest Metro


Mgyeldell

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 34
  • Created
  • Last Reply

^No Sampson is definitely closer to Fayetteville.

And I'm sure the Triangle won't mind if Fayetteville metro claims Harnett County...they really have more in common with Fay than RDU anyways.

In fact, while you're at it, would y'all like to have Johnston too?? :silly:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of people think that Sampson is part of Raleigh's area because of I-40. Technically, it is closer to Fayetteville. It is only about 15 miles from from downtown Fayetteville. I know a lot of people who live there and commute to Fayetteville. In fact, I know someone who commutes to Raleigh during the week, and works a second job in Fayetteville on the weekends. Everyone likes to put Fayetteville down, but I think people are beginning to take notice. A lot of people say that Fort Bragg is liability - well this liability has created over 700 jobs since december, in terms of contractors moving to the area. In fact, there is a shortage of buildings - office and industrial. I have been told that officially, the Fayetteville metro area now includes Hoke and part of Harnett counties. But, the true metro area includes all of the counties mentioned previously.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont think of Fayetteville being a part of the Raleigh metro but I do believe Fayettevile is in the Raleigh TV market if im not mistaken.

Correct, which is sorta the point of this thread....that, to the contrary of what most people believe (due to Fayetteville being in the same TV market as the Triangle), Fayetteville (and the towns around it like Lumberton, etc) are really a separate metro area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So the lesson here is that TV markets define a metro?

I can't imagine that Ft Worth and Dallas are in seperate tv markets, yet some consider them seperate metros and/or combined metros. With Fay and Ral, I can't see that happening as they are well too far apart. If Fayetteville had a direct link to Charlotte as the Triangle and Triad do (I-85,) I believe it would help their business growth. Having a link to major business hubs is critical to attracting many businesses. Also, it is fairly obvious from census density maps that there is little growth between Fayetteville and the other metros. They need these links before it can become like the other three. I would love to see it develop however as it would give NC almost a perfect square of growth which would eventually start to fill itself in.

North_Carolina_population_map.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Heh...cool. :D

By the way...nifty population density map you found there....

A) where did you find it and

B) is there a version that you can get close-up/magnify certain areas/counties? Be kinda interesting what "parts" of various cities have the higher density.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The map comes from the census bureau, although I do have to sadly admit I found it off of Wikipedia. Here's the link to the national density map and density maps for all fifty states:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_population_map.png

I couldn't find a zoom control anywhere for counties, but I'll keep looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe fayetteville has always been a metro area, maybe for the last 20 years? Spring Lake and Hope Mills have always been bedroom communities of Fayetteville for quite sometime. I think the next new NC metro area will be the Hickory area then the Rocky Mt/Wilson area along the western fringe areas near I-95 and the 64 and 264 freeways.

In regards to Sampson County, you would be suprised how many people commute to Raleigh from I-40. Fayetteville on the other hand, I dont know about the commuting patterns along NC 24 but the highway is planned to be widened between Fayetteville and the crystal coast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe fayetteville has always been a metro area, maybe for the last 20 years? Spring Lake and Hope Mills have always been bedroom communities of Fayetteville for quite sometime. I think the next new NC metro area will be the Hickory area then the Rocky Mt/Wilson area along the western fringe areas near I-95 and the 64 and 264 freeways.

In regards to Sampson County, you would be suprised how many people commute to Raleigh from I-40. Fayetteville on the other hand, I dont know about the commuting patterns along NC 24 but the highway is planned to be widened between Fayetteville and the crystal coast.

Hickory already is; the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton MSA includes Alexandeer, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba Counties, with a total 2004 est. population of 352,734. The area's nickname - The Unifour - I assume devolves from Hickory's location at or near the intersection of the 4 counties. As of 2004, this MSA was actually a bit larger than either the Fayetteville or Wilmington MSAs, but the composition of the MSA - several smaller cities (Hickory, Morganton, Valdese, Rutherford College, Longview, Brookford, Rhodhiss, Granite Falls, Sawmills, Hudson, Cajah Mountain, Lenoir, Newton, Conover, plus the St Stephens CDP all are or are nearly adjoined in one rather sprawling urban area) instead of one large one means this is often overlooked.

Jacksonville, Greenville, Rocky Mount and Goldsboro all have their own MSAs (NOT Micropolitan) as well, all one county, with the exception of the Rocky Mount MSA, which includes Nash and Edgecombe Counties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hickory already is; the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton MSA includes Alexandeer, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba Counties, with a total 2004 est. population of 352,734. The area's nickname - The Unifour - I assume devolves from Hickory's location at or near the intersection of the 4 counties. As of 2004, this MSA was actually a bit larger than either the Fayetteville or Wilmington MSAs, but the composition of the MSA - several smaller cities (Hickory, Morganton, Valdese, Rutherford College, Longview, Brookford, Rhodhiss, Granite Falls, Sawmills, Hudson, Cajah Mountain, Lenoir, Newton, Conover, plus the St Stephens CDP all are or are nearly adjoined in one rather sprawling urban area) instead of one large one means this is often overlooked.

Jacksonville, Greenville, Rocky Mount and Goldsboro all have their own MSAs (NOT Micropolitan) as well, all one county, with the exception of the Rocky Mount MSA, which includes Nash and Edgecombe Counties.

Yeah I was aware of that. It is a little known fact about our state population centers. That is the problem with NC. The population is dsipersed and not concentrated in one or two large metro areas. It is that fact that tend to make outsiders overlook the fact that there are over 8mil. residents in the state.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I was aware of that. It is a little known fact about our state population centers. That is the problem with NC. The population is dsipersed and not concentrated in one or two large metro areas. It is that fact that tend to make outsiders overlook the fact that there are over 8mil. residents in the state.

That does get annoying at times. Raleigh and Greensboro are even little known outside of the state. And I'm not trying to belittle them, I just know several of my friends familiar with colleges in NC think most are around Charlotte. That is, those that actually know about Charlotte. NC is very underrated because of its extremely spread out population. If you look at the national map, only a few other states have a broad population coverage like NC. Aside from the smaller NYC area states (RI, CT, NJ) only Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana have densities that are as spread out as NC, SC, and TN. Most other states have large "no mans land" areas. I was extremely surprised to see how consolidated Las Vegas is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That does get annoying at times. Raleigh and Greensboro are even little known outside of the state. And I'm not trying to belittle them, I just know several of my friends familiar with colleges in NC think most are around Charlotte.

Most people do seem to think Charlotte=NC. However, most people seem familiar with Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and Durham due to the medical centers there. Carolinas, Duke, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Forsyth have reaches well into other states. I travel over 10 states and I am constantly amazed at how far out I run into people that have had relatives referred to one of these hospitals for treatment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is interesting to see how dense Wake county is considering how large it is. Another observation is the 85 corridor is pretty much linked as far as density on the map goes. I see the Unifour region very distinctly. One more thing I am sure by now Chatham county has increased its density along the Orange and Wake county lines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a person that grew up in the Fayetteville area I just dont see the draw. I keep seeing people on this site say Fayetteville is this hidden diamond in the rough when its just a dump. During the summers it has to be one of the hottest part's of the state and all you see are strip malls, stop lights and there is just nothing to do which leads to kids making there own entertainment which is never a good thing.

Some positves though that Fayettevile does have it its regional draw. I grew up in robeson county and every weekend my family would go to Fville to go shopping and I know plenty of others families from Robeson, Hoke, Scotland, Sampson and Bladen counties that did the same. As boring as Fville is the surrounding counties are much worse so everyone flocks to Fville for shopping and eating places.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

During the summers it has to be one of the hottest part's of the state and all you see are strip malls, stop lights
Indeed, it is VERY HOT out there. I lived in Pinehurst so i understand the temperature extremes

and there is just nothing to do which leads to kids making there own entertainment which is never a good thing.

:rofl: YES, i know this all too well (back when i was in high school) with kids from Moore County creating their own fun in the ville with friends they know from 71st High School or Westover.

Some positves though that Fayettevile does have it its regional draw. I grew up in robeson county and every weekend my family would go to Fville to go shopping and I know plenty of others families from Robeson, Hoke, Scotland, Sampson and Bladen counties that did the same. As boring as Fville is the surrounding counties are much worse so everyone flocks to Fville for shopping and eating places.

Again, very true. To this day, people from Moore are still drivin to Fville for the mall but not so much for anything else anymore simply because the Pinehurst-SP area has just about everything that Fville already has. It was not this way prior to 1998 where you had to go to Fville for nearly everything aside from simple dining and retail outlets. Moore County as well, draws regional travelers for big city ameneties too but not at the scale Fville does. In the past year, a Best Buy, Panera Bread and a few other retail big box stores opened up in Aberdeen on 15/501 near US 1, which is pretty damn good for a 6 town area (Pinehurst, Soutthern Pines, Aberdeen, Pinebluff, Foxfire Village, Whispering Pines) of around 40,000 people

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick response to Fayetteville being a dump - the person who wrote that evidently has not been to Fayetteville lately. While it is no Charlotte or Raleigh, etc., Fayetteville has made great strides in the past few years. Most people who say things like that are either military or teenagers who grew up in Fayetteville. While yes it is hot here, from what I have gathered, Raleigh and Fayetteville temps are pretty close now (during the summer months). It seems the two are usually within a degree or two of each other. I believe this is due to all of the growth in the Raleigh area, or should I say all of the building activity around RDU. In terms of jobs, yes there needs to be a lot of work in that area, but all-in-all Fayetteville is growing. And, we are getting some spillover growth from Raleigh on the north side. I know several people who moved from Raleigh to Fayetteville and commute to Raleigh. They moved to Fayetteville because it was cheaper and Fayetteville is getting a lot of the same stores and restaurants as Raleigh. Plus, they said they would rather deal with Fayetteville traffic as opposed to Raleigh traffic. While Fayetteville has a lot of red lights, the traffic signal system has been computerized, and many lights along the city's main arteries are staying green so traffic is beginning to move faster around the city. If anyone is interested, check out the Fayetteville observer at: www.fayettevillenc.com, you can check out articles on the growth and changes in Fayetteville.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WRAL just reported that Cumberland County Government and the City of Fayetteville have hired a consultant to discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and possibility of merging governments. The story reports that there have been four attempts at city/county mergers, but all have failed, thus making this the possible first ever on NC. Examples of merged city/coutnies are Louisville/Jefferson County in KY and Jacksonville/Duval Coutny in Florida. I don't know if this might happen. If it does, Fayetteville could become the second largest city in the state. What are your thoughts on this? Would you consider Fayetteville to be the second largest city or would you still see Raleigh as the runner-up to Charlotte?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

WRAL just reported that Cumberland County Government and the City of Fayetteville have hired a consultant to discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and possibility of merging governments. The story reports that there have been four attempts at city/county mergers, but all have failed, thus making this the possible first ever on NC. Examples of merged city/coutnies are Louisville/Jefferson County in KY and Jacksonville/Duval Coutny in Florida. I don't know if this might happen. If it does, Fayetteville could become the second largest city in the state. What are your thoughts on this? Would you consider Fayetteville to be the second largest city or would you still see Raleigh as the runner-up to Charlotte?

I wonder if this will get off the ground. At times back into the 1970s, I know Charlotte/Mecklenburg, Durham/Durham Co, Wilmington/New Hanover and Currituck Co (which has no incorporated towns) have studied or voted on it, but with annexation fairly easy, it's never succeeded. I think the wave of consolidations in Ga and Va (Columbus, Athens & Augusta GA; and the 4 "dead" counties that turned into 7 independent cities in Tidewater VA) were all to get around highly restrictive annexation laws.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.