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North Carolina is tenth largest state in Population Again

DCMetroRaleigh

By DCMetroRaleigh
in North Carolina

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CapeFearRiver10 Whistle-Stop

CapeFearRiver10

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I believe Wilmington growth should be compared to Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, & Traid. Fayetteville is slowly growing they could possibly become the size of Knoxville, TN of today. The biggest sleeper of them all is Asheville with the tourist, & Greenville for its connection to fast enrollment of ECU. I would love to see a city more in the center of the state grow into a major city. NC could possibly reach 14-15 million in 25 years.

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davidals Hamlet

davidals

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It may be 10-15 years from now but it will pass Georgia again. There are 3 metros that are literally going to go apes%*t over the next 20-30 years. In that same time period I think that Metro Wilmington and Metro Fayetteville "Could" become as large as todays Raleigh/Durham Metro. My prediction is that RaleighDurham alone will become the size of "Todays"metro atlanta within 30 years. This area is a sleeping giant ready to explode.
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sax184 Hamlet

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If that growth isn't managed or planned and anticipated it would be a disaster. No one wants NC to look like that 100+-mile swath of sprawl between LA and San Bernardino, for instance. If we end up with generic, low density sprawl stretched in a crescent from Johnson or Cumberland Counties to Gaston in the west, I'll be very, very unhappy. Building a lot of random junk does not equal growth that will do anyone (apart from real estate professionals and the local chamber of commerce) any good. And the smaller-but-growing cities in the state - Asheville, Greenville, Wilmington especially - can look at the big 3 NC metros and spot any number of mistakes they'd do well to not repeat, as there are any number of smaller cities around the country that have managed to grow in ways that are far better than their larger neighbors. Fayetteville's (for example) rate of population growth is a bit lower than the rate/amount of 'stuff getting built all over the place,' and those rates should be closer together or Fayetteville might be forced into the traumatic undoing of lousy planning mistakes of a kind the bigger cities in the state are having to wrangle with now.

Huge and surging pop. numbers aren't good or bad. It's all about quality. If NC started getting to FL or TX kinds of population numbers it could be great economically and culturally, but only if that growth isn't stupid, haphazard and random. I don't want to slam NJ, which has some beautiful areas if you know where to look, but if all of central NC ends up looking like the view from the NJ TPK, this state will be down the tubes.

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rooster8 Hamlet

rooster8

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^While I agree with your sentiments about the increase of sprawliness between Durham and Burlington, I think you're mistaken about Mackintosh. Mackintosh is a high end development not visible from 40/85. I think the subdivision you are referring to is called something else. The homes in that development look like something a good wind could blow them over.

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sax184 Hamlet

sax184

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^While I agree with your sentiments about the increase of sprawliness between Durham and Burlington, I think you're mistaken about Mackintosh. Mackintosh is a high end development not visible from 40/85. I think the subdivision you are referring to is called something else. The homes in that development look like something a good wind could blow them over.
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JDC Burg

JDC

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I like the idea of National Parks. The Outer Banks need to be protected. I'd hate to see that area end up looking like Myrtle Beach.

I think city governments ought to consider urban growth boundaries, restricting development to vacant spaces in their downtown/urban areas.

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Nathan Crossroads

Nathan

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How will North Carolina pass Georgia again when the population gap has gotten wider since 2000? How can somebody accurately predict a population 25 years ahead of time. Many factors between now and then could change the population flow. Historically Georgia and North Carolina population have been neck to neck anyway, so who's to say what going to happen in by 2030.

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NcSc74 Burg

NcSc74

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Well, a balance is definitely necessary, but NC has some real coastal treasures. NC's coast is pretty pristine compared to its coastal neighbors. However, the booming coastal cities in the neighboring states do offer much to those states (Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach).
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AuLukey Town

AuLukey

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I agree SG3, the Outer Banks still have that laid back atmosphere that many people cherish for still being relatively pristine in comparison to their northern and southern neighbors. Another fact about the Outer Banks is that they are geographically difficult to build enormous hotels and such on because in twenty years, the coastline can move a great deal in one direction or another. The islands themselves are slowly migrating every year. This is the reason why erosion got to the level that they had to move the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

Leaving the outer banks relatively unspoiled is their very selling point for tourism. Tiny beach towns dotted abound are much more appealing to some than micro-cities with boardwalks and ferris wheels. The point of the beach is to escape the city (and/or life) for just a little while. There are times when you want to go out and have fun, and other times when you just want to take a breather. That's the difference between Myrtle and Virginia Beach vs. the Outer Banks.

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DCMetroRaleigh Burg

DCMetroRaleigh

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I was born and reared in North Carolina, and never have been to the NC coast. I just tend to like the more high octane beach locales, which sends me to Miami, Myrtle Beach, Ocean City, VA Beach, even Rehobeth. I want some night life, young people, hip vibe at the beach. I am just not into the sleepy coastal venues, although many people are. Part of me wishes at least a portion of the NC beach were more commercial and populated.

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Nathan Crossroads

Nathan

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I think the good way to describe North Carolina and Georgia demographics is to compare it to Ohio and Illinois. North Carolina being Ohio (with a bunch of medium sized cities), and Georgia being Illinois with one prime city of a state within the top 10 metro areas of the united states. With that said, I think that Georgia will take the current population rank of Illinois (#5) and North Carolina will take the current rank of Ohio (#7) within the next few decades.

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davidals Hamlet

davidals

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Unfortunately that's not happening. I was in Nags Head last May, and it didn't look like the same place. There was a big series on coastal development in the Raleigh N&O and a few in the Independent Weekly about it... basically the real estate boom has spread to the beach at a rapid pace such that many waterways are no longer fishable and prices are skyrocketing. In early 07, the market may be slowing, but there remains tremedous pressure on the SE beaches and the outer banks.
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PlazaMidwoodGuy Whistle-Stop

PlazaMidwoodGuy

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I was born and reared in North Carolina, and never have been to the NC coast. I just tend to like the more high octane beach locales, which sends me to Miami, Myrtle Beach, Ocean City, VA Beach, even Rehobeth. I want some night life, young people, hip vibe at the beach. I am just not into the sleepy coastal venues, although many people are. Part of me wishes at least a portion of the NC beach were more commercial and populated.
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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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The Outer Banks have grown a lot in the last 20 years, but has probably reached its peak. We moved out there in '86, and while I haven't lived there consistently since 89, I try go out there at least a couple of times a year.

For entertainment, there will never be an oceanside boardwalk -- nor'easters that push sand and water around every winter. In most (if not all) of NC, beaches are public property up to the sand dune line. There used to be Dowdy's, a seasonal amusement park built from carnival rides (including a 3-4 story Ferris Wheel) but I think it is not coming back.

Just south of the Nags Head fishing pier, there used to be the combination of Foosball Palace and Atlantis night club. Foosball was a pool hall/bar with a lot of arcade games, while Atlantis varied from a DJ playing dance music to live bands from season to season. The owner died a while ago and his heirs sold the land to a developer who bulit large houses. The Maneto Waterfront has developed a little village-like atmosphere, but I haven't been there in a while.

Due to building ordinances, new hotel construction has been stagnant. A lot of old mom-and-pop hotels have been torn down to make room for huge "hosues" that have as many or more beds than the smaller hotels they replaced. These "Taj Mahals" have turned the Outer Banks into a playground for the rich. Only people with big families, or groups of families that go in together to rent the houses, can afford to vacation there. Houses are the rule, not the exception, from Southern Shores north thorough Corolla.

As the number of hotel rooms decreased, the price per room went up. Hotels without an ocean view always commanded a lesster rate per night. Larger hotel chains do not want to build low end accomodations, especially at the beach.

There are a fair number of mini-golf courses along 158 and a few go-kart tracks here and there. There used to be no chain restaurants outside of fast food offerings. Even those were kept to Mc Donalds, Hardees, Burger King, and Pizza Hut in "french fry alley" around Mile Post 8 in Kill Devil Hills for a while. But somehow the resistance to chains broke, and Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Sonic, etc. displaced some of the local places.

In the mid-late 90s, there was a tipping point when K-Mart and the Outlet Mall opened. After that came Wal-Mart, then Home Depot, etc. followed suit.

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