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The population boom in the Triangle


willrusso

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While I see the Triangle like anyone else might (as a triangle) I can see why they're split up. And with continued growth, who knows? Raleigh and Cary are geographically closer than Raleigh and Durham, plus Durham and Chapel Hill are closer than Durham and Raleigh. Not to mention, the greatest college basketball rivalry exists between the Durham and Chapel Hill. There's more of a link there. does any of that make sense?

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  • 3 months later...

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Since I believe it is aroung 350,000 people now,(city proper), if had annexed like Charlotte does now but back in the 70's 80's it would probably be more like 500,000 people. I base this on Raleigh moving faster than the cities of Cary, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Garner, Apex, Fuaque Varinia-(Spelling of that one?), Holly Springs. Great population but bad sprawl, just like Charlotte. I don't know if Raleigh being fenced in by these other cities will make Raleigh become more urban in the long run or not, but I hope it helps it do so. Thanks for asking! :yahoo:

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Wake Forest didn't jump the gun on raleigh at all... if they had, wakefield would not be in the raleigh city limits. it is pretty ridiculous that wakefield is part of raleigh and not wake forest if you ask me. i heard some old man say a long while back 'raleigh has no business being anywhere north of the neuse river' and i kind of agree.

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Raleigh doesn't have the freedom to annex as much as Charlotte. This is because of how the surrounding towns sort of lock bits of Raleigh in. However, there is something to be said for Charlotte's style of growth. Much of Charlotte's sprawl is of a consistently decent looking quality (relatively speaking of course). So the fact that Charlotte covers so much physical ground is not a bad thing. And as Charlotte adopts better designs for growth and development, it has a huge influence over much of the land in the county/metro area.

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Raleigh still has room left to annex, to the southeast and northwest. Some day it could stretch from Johnson to Durham county. When we consider how much land that actually covers, we're looking at something pretty similar in size to Mecklenburg county.

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Wake Forest didn't jump the gun on raleigh at all... if they had, wakefield would not be in the raleigh city limits. it is pretty ridiculous that wakefield is part of raleigh and not wake forest if you ask me. i heard some old man say a long while back 'raleigh has no business being anywhere north of the neuse river' and i kind of agree.

There are always those people who have enjoyed living for the past several years in the county as opposed to within the city limits. Think about being someone who has been in Wake for 30 years and has seen the rapid growth of the area. Currently, the avoid having to pay city taxes. So why on earth would they want to be annexed now? The growth is out of those person' hands.

With regards to Wakefield, I do have to disagree based on some assumptions. Wake Forest was a small town prior to Raleigh's growth northward and the development of Wakefield. I seriously doubt that Wake Forest had the infrastructure in place to handle a development so large. Sewer, water, roads, fire and police department coverage....I think Raleigh was in a better position at the time to tap into its own resources from north Raleigh to accomodate the growth. It only makes sense, based on this assumption, that it would be in the city of Raleigh and not Wake Forest. The ETJ has annexation agreement lines anyhow, however I'm not sure that these were agreed upon prior to Wakefield.

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  • 2 months later...

Wake's task force recommends the following goals to deal with growth (among others):

Transportation

* Encourage high-density development around highway and rail corridors.

* Use tolls to pay for major highway projects.

* Include space for a transit rail line along every new major highway.

Parks and open space

* Preserve 30,000 acres of open space as soon as possible, before prices rise.

* Increase the county's open space goal from 30 percent to 35 percent, or 200,000 acres.

* Encourage conservation-friendly subdivisions with open space and greenways.

County finance

* Reassess real estate values every four years, instead of every eight years.

* Assess a 5 percent water and sewer fee to pay for open space preservation.

* Levy a 1-cent local sales tax for school construction and other capital needs.

I wish there was a recommendation for a transit sales tax, but for the most part I give a big :thumbsup: to all these recommendations and I hope they actually get implemented.

Orange County looks at development rights, an idea never before seen in NC.

A county task force has been studying the feasibility of creating a Transfer of Development Rights program whereby rural landowners would sell their development rights to a developer who wants to build at a higher density in a more urban setting.

Consultants and planning staff explained that certain areas of the county -- such as those of environmental, historical or cultural significance -- would be designated as "sending areas" where landowners would be permitted to sell their development rights. Other areas of the county -- such as economic development districts, rural crossroads and land near the interstates and U.S. 70 -- would be designated as "receiving areas" that could be built at higher densities than that at which they are currently zoned.

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Wake's task force recommends the following goals to deal with growth (among others):

Task forces in Wake County are meaningless. The Blue Ribbon Commission is the latest opportunity for Wake County movers and shakers to get together and look for somebody else to lead on the pressing issues of the day.

What does the Real Estate/Developer/Home Builder/Jessie Taliaferro complex recommend? That's what will get done in the end.

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Task forces in Wake County are meaningless. The Blue Ribbon Commission is the latest opportunity for Wake County movers and shakers to get together and look for somebody else to lead on the pressing issues of the day.

What does the Real Estate/Developer/Home Builder/Jessie Taliaferro complex recommend? That's what will get done in the end.

Unfortunately that is the problem with growth in the region. Real Estate Developers have all the say and planning folks have little. Just my opinion.

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Also, major highways are typically poor corridors to put rail transit. Who wants to be a pedestrian around a major highway?

Hey. I think it is a great idea. Denver is widening 22 miles of freeway from 6 to 10 lanes and installing nineteen miles of rail for $1.1 billion. The rail runs on the side of the freeway and there are a few pedistrain bridges were the large parking decks have been built. This will all open in October 06. This will complement the first rail line that was built 10 years ago which has come to daily ridership of 38,000. Expected first day ridership on the rail 38,000

The developers love it becasue the are building very dense communities right by the rail. In fact developers are buying all the free land left which isn't much becasue this rail goes by the Tech Center which employs 100,000 people.

I think that is what they need to so with I-40 to RTP. Capital Blvd to downtown. highway 64 to downtown

US 70 from Garner area, even wake tech to downtown. Having downtown as the main transfer station would be ideal because that would bring foot traffic to the downtown area. Then you could have a connecting line to Durham through the RTP.

In Denver the metro area residents voted for bonds to finance all their mass transit. They have the opposite problems that Wake county/ RDU has. They don't have to worry about roads, schools, or any other infrastructure to supply the enormous amount of growth in the area. So for them bonds was very easy. I think it was like $5 billion over 25 years, but it would supply 90 miles of rail and there airport is 30 miles from town. So that is the large portion of it. Not real sure on the amounts but I know they called Fastracks.

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Hey. I think it is a great idea. Denver is widening 22 miles of freeway from 6 to 10 lanes and installing nineteen miles of rail for $1.1 billion. The rail runs on the side of the freeway and there are a few pedistrain bridges were the large parking decks have been built. This will all open in October 06. This will complement the first rail line that was built 10 years ago which has come to daily ridership of 38,000. Expected first day ridership on the rail 38,000

The developers love it becasue the are building very dense communities right by the rail. In fact developers are buying all the free land left which isn't much becasue this rail goes by the Tech Center which employs 100,000 people.

I think that is what they need to so with I-40 to RTP. Capital Blvd to downtown. highway 64 to downtown

US 70 from Garner area, even wake tech to downtown. Having downtown as the main transfer station would be ideal because that would bring foot traffic to the downtown area. Then you could have a connecting line to Durham through the RTP.

In Denver the metro area residents voted for bonds to finance all their mass transit. They have the opposite problems that Wake county/ RDU has. They don't have to worry about roads, schools, or any other infrastructure to supply the enormous amount of growth in the area. So for them bonds was very easy. I think it was like $5 billion over 25 years, but it would supply 90 miles of rail and there airport is 30 miles from town. So that is the large portion of it. Not real sure on the amounts but I know they called Fastracks.

Denver has the exact same problems as RDU with rapid growth and need for infrastructure. The difference is that Denver has mature, forward-thinking political leaders who take the long view while we have timid, shrinking non-leaders who are afraid of asking people to pay for their metro area not to be a crappy mini-Atlanta because they're afraid of a small vocal minority of anti-tax nuts.

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Denver has the exact same problems as RDU with rapid growth and need for infrastructure. The difference is that Denver has mature, forward-thinking political leaders who take the long view while we have timid, shrinking non-leaders who are afraid of asking people to pay for their metro area not to be a crappy mini-Atlanta because they're afraid of a small vocal minority of anti-tax nuts.

nice

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I would beg to differ on the growth aspect. I would agree on how politicians think about transit needs. Oddly enough the man heaidng up the TTA transit left Denver to go to Raleigh. The traffic here is not that bad unless you head to the mountains during ski season. I lived in Seattle and that was BAD. I am from Raleigh by the way. How would voters pass a $7 billion infrastructure package and not pass $1.9B package for schools. By the way Denver is actually closing schools because kids are leaving

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  • 4 weeks later...

On WRAL at 6 pm, there was an article about how Raleigh has surpassed major cities like Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. The news reports that over 12,000 people move to the city alone each year. With that pace, Raleigh will pass St. Louis in the next year. Raleigh now ranks among the top 50 largest cities in the U.S., in terms of city-proper population.

The news said that growth has not only occured out in the burbs, but in the city center, especially around downtown. This is interesting considering for years our downtown has been sleepy, and now seeing a resurgence of population and projects. Main factors for this population growth include a growing business climate, in which Forbes ranks Raleigh second in cities to best do business, and North Carolina had 5 cities in the top 50, well-educated population, and national exposure as a result of the numerous accolades Raleigh has acheived, including best places to live and best places to work.

After seeing a similar topic in the Charlotte forum, I decided to try it out in this forum. What do you think of this growth? Is the pace increasing? What other factors contribute to this sharp increase in growth? Will Raleigh breach into the top-tier cities in poplulation in the future?

What are your thoughts and ideas about this growth and the future of Raleigh?

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- The city of Raleigh is approaching the distinction of being one of the 50 largest cities in the United States.

Population estimates expected out in a few weeks put Raleigh's population more than 350,000 people inside the city limits.

"Raleigh's growth is not just on the fringes," said Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker. "Twenty to 25 percent is actually in the city in terms of infill and redevelopment areas. So we have both kind of growth, from annexation as well as growth internally."

The Capital City is currently larger than Tampa, Fla., Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. It is also expected to surpass St Louis's population of about 343,000 with the new figures and could surpass Minneapolis, which has a population of about 373,000, within the next few years.

Leaders said Raleigh can grow outward, unlike the aforementioned cities, which are denser.

About 12,000 people are moving to the city each year, making it one of the nation's fastest growing cities. Compared to expected population numbers of 350,000, the city's population was only 150,000 in 1980. A decade later, it increased to 212,000; and in 2000, the population was at about 276,000.

http://www.wral.com/news/9338000/detail.html

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I read on MSN last night Raleigh was ranked #3 of Americas most educated cities. I believe at least 47% of the 25 and older population had at least a 4 year degree of some sort. Also the median avg income is 7th in the nation among that demographic. Go, go Raleigh its your birthday.....just a side note Charlotte was #14. Nc represented well. Our state was ranked highest in the south. Anyone that is not proud to say they are from NC just don't know the facts.

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On WRAL at 6 pm, there was an article about how Raleigh has surpassed major cities like Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. The news reports that over 12,000 people move to the city alone each year. With that pace, Raleigh will pass St. Louis in the next year. Raleigh now ranks among the top 50 largest cities in the U.S., in terms of city-proper population.

The news said that growth has not only occured out in the burbs, but in the city center, especially around downtown. This is interesting considering for years our downtown has been sleepy, and now seeing a resurgence of population and projects. Main factors for this population growth include a growing business climate, in which Forbes ranks Raleigh second in cities to best do business, and North Carolina had 5 cities in the top 50, well-educated population, and national exposure as a result of the numerous accolades Raleigh has acheived, including best places to live and best places to work.

After seeing a similar topic in the Charlotte forum, I decided to try it out in this forum. What do you think of this growth? Is the pace increasing? What other factors contribute to this sharp increase in growth? Will Raleigh breach into the top-tier cities in poplulation in the future?

What are your thoughts and ideas about this growth and the future of Raleigh?

Two words: Bigger = Better!

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Two words: Bigger = Better!

Not necessarily. Out of 12,000 people moving into the city, half of them are most likely K-12 age, which means that about 4-5 schools' worth of new students are moving into the county a year. WCPSS will probably not be able to absorb that kind of growth quickly enough. If growth stays at its present rate, Raleigh will have some massive growing pains to deal with.

:blink:

Oh, and hello. :D

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Not necessarily. Out of 12,000 people moving into the city, half of them are most likely K-12 age, which means that about 4-5 schools' worth of new students are moving into the county a year. WCPSS will probably not be able to absorb that kind of growth quickly enough. If growth stays at its present rate, Raleigh will have some massive growing pains to deal with.

:blink:

Oh, and hello. :D

We already have growing pains,but i agree it's going to get worse if the LEADERSHIP here doesn't step up BIG!
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I saw that Raleigh has more than doubled in population since 1980, but so has the land area. We are actually less dense than in 1980 if you can believe that. Honestly that is a terrible sign for our growth patterns. We have got to eliminate the sprawl issue before it's too late. What kind of city will Raleigh be in 2030 if our growth patterns don't change?

We need to go with something like Orange County's 3acres/dwelling unit in the rural areas and rewrite the code for zoning in the city limits to allow for increased infill development.

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