Statesville-Mooresville micropolitan area grew nearly 15% since 2000

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Mooresville, Troutman and Statesville residents don't need anyone to tell them their area's grown a lot in the past few years.

But now U.S. Census data is showing just how quickly.

Between 2000 and 2005 the population of the Statesville-Mooresville micropolitan area, which includes the two municipalities and the semi-urban area between the two, increased from 122,660 to 140,924.

That's a 14.9 percent increase, or 41st fastest in the country.

It's also faster than Statesville-Mooresville's neighbor to the south, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord metropolitan area, which includes York County, S.C.

That area's population grew to more than 1.5 million, a 14.5 percent increase and 45th fastest nationally.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/15343321.htm

[rjp212]

I kind of hope that the Statesville-Mooresville micro doesn't become apart of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metro. I would like to see it develop into it's own metro in it's own right.

[krazeeboi]

Well, it's already in the CSA. I think it will eventually get absorbed into the MSA, but only time will tell.

At any rate, it's an impressive rate considering the size of the area, but the Charlotte MSA added more than five times the amount of people the Statesville-Mooresville micro area did.

[Unifour]

That is utterly astounding... I wonder what's causing such dramatic growth? Proximity to Charlotte/Lake Norman is my guess. Iredell will soon pass Catawba in population, it appears. Statesville was and still is a troubled little community, and most of the growth is in the Mooresville area, and that feels like suburban Charlotte already. I think it will be a part of Charlotte's MSA by 2010 or 2020.

[suburban george3]

That is utterly astounding... I wonder what's causing such dramatic growth? Proximity to Charlotte/Lake Norman is my guess. Iredell will soon pass Catawba in population, it appears. Statesville was and still is a troubled little community, and most of the growth is in the Mooresville area, and that feels like suburban Charlotte already. I think it will be a part of Charlotte's MSA by 2010 or 2020.

True, Mooresville is adding Faster than Statesville but Statesville is in a unique position, speaking geographically. Being between 3 major MSA's(Charlotte, Triad, and Hickory) and it's location on both a N-S and E-W interstate give Statesville some advantages. Statesville has some issues, but given the right leadership we could see some promising things from there!

[Jerseyman4]

I can see a lot happening for Statesville on its own but Mooresville will just be the outskirts of suburban Charlotte

[monsoon]

Lowes Home Improvement Stores moving its HQ to just south of Mooresville (12,000 jobs) is having a big effect on the area when you consider all of the addtional jobs that come to support Lowes. This puts Lowes in the same league as Bank of America in terms of employers here in the area. There are also a number of automobile manufacturing firms around Troutman that have been quietly expanding to service all of the auto manufacturers that have relocating to the south, and to serve the big 3 which have been outsourcing more work. Lake Norman is also a very popular and attractive place for people to want to live. It's a good place to get away from the stress and crime of the city.

[rjp212]

Yes Mooresville is experiencing growth from it's proximity to Charlotte; however, Mooresville has done a great job of actually creating it's own economy and really can't be considered a bedroom community of Charlotte.

[Unifour]

True, Mooresville is adding Faster than Statesville but Statesville is in a unique position, speaking geographically. Being between 3 major MSA's(Charlotte, Triad, and Hickory) and it's location on both a N-S and E-W interstate give Statesville some advantages. Statesville has some issues, but given the right leadership we could see some promising things from there!

Yeah, Statesville was a city in decline not so long ago, but as of 2000, they posted a significant population gain, and I've noticed an uptick in construction and new housing going on all over town, so I hope it has improved. You are correct that major cross country interstates passing through are a boon to the city; they should really try to develop trucking, transportation, and logistics industries to take advantage of that. I think Statesville could very well be engulfed by Charlotte at some point down the line, because other major cities have expanded that far. Suburban New York extends 70 miles from downtown Manhatten in some places. Only time will tell, of course.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Yeah, while Iredell County is its own micropolitan, it is a part of the Charlotte area and will likely one day be part of the MSA.

[monsoon]

Yeah, while Iredell County is its own micropolitan, it is a part of the Charlotte area and will likely one day be part of the MSA.

Do you have any analyis to back this up or are you stating an opinion?

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Well, there should not be much debate that is in the Charlotte area, as the term is commonly understood. Any county that borders a major city is usually considered within that major city's area by the fact of proximity alone. Further, there is considerable cross-commuting between the two counties already, although not yet at the MSA threshold. It would not take much more cross-commuting to bring the county into the CLT MSA. As we know, the delineation of an MSA starts with identifying a county that contains a core urban area with a population of at least 50,000 residents. Other counties may be attached to this urban core if the level of commuting between them and the core represent at least 25 percent of the labor force. While only approximately 15% out of the 30% of Iredell residents that commute out of Iredell worked in Mecklenburg in 2000, that number may edge upward in the next census. No one said it would happen overnight, but over decades, there is a good chance it will happen.

[monsoon]

No one said it would happen overnight, but over decades, there is a good chance it will happen.

And why not the other way?

[DCMetroRaleigh]

And why not the other way?

I did not address it happening the other way because that is not what I think will happen. I am not a prophet, so take it as conjecture.

[monsoon]

I did not address it happening the other way because that is not what I think will happen. I am not a prophet, so take it as conjecture.

Lowes alone is creating more jobs than the number of people who commute from Iredell to Mecklengurg.

[rjp212]

To go along with this argument, the post in the South Forum about US's strongest economies ranks Statesville-Mooresville as the 15th strongest in the nation for micropolitans.

Charlotte is ranked number 1 for metros.