Talk of merging Hall, Gainesville reignites (Atlanta, Columbus: housing, estimated, exodus)

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

What a minute!

I don't need a source! I live here,so I can tell you.



Population for BRAC was only an illusion for excitement. It didn't bring in as many people as we thought it would.

For your opinion to be fact requires a source. I live in Atlanta and could tell you our population exploded and we now have 10 million people but it wouldn't be accurate by any means.

According to census estimates, it looks like BRAC boosted the population quite healthily.

[Columbuskidd92]

I think we can say BRAC boosted Columbus population. However,BRAC ended THREE years ago! So that means Columbus has been sailing the growth ship in the past THREE years.

BRAC completion and job eliminations have led to fewer civilian employees at Fort Benning | Latest News | Columbus Ledger Enquirer

[PJA]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

It is definitely not an apples to apples comparison by any means. Look at Jacksonville. Twice the city population of Atlanta, but a metro area less than one fourth the size.

Georgia counties have quite the sway over cities. It seems difficult for annexations to take place compared to other states. Thus, this consolidation solution seems a best fit. Gainesville surely isn't one of Georgia's classic second tier cities. The county has grown in the last few decades and is definitely an auto centric suburban type of growth. But county to county, it is closing in on those counties that house Georgia's second tier cities, so all in all, if consolidation does occur, it doesn't matter how and when that growth got there. Hall is just behind Richmond and Muscogee, is already ahead of Bibb.

At the same time, you would need to look at Columbus, Macon, Athens and Augusta pre consolidation. Augusta had slipped to below 50k prior to consolidation. Its city limits were much too small for the growth in the area, but consolidation does boost its numbers when making a city to city comparison.

Overall, I think that consolidation is a great solution for counties that are filling up with suburban type growth. Georgia counties got into the municipal services business at some point. In other states, here in Texas for example, the county just does the basic county type of thing... courts and little else. If an area develops and needs municipal services, it either incorporates or is annexed into an existing city. The county I now live in, Collin, is about the size of a Cobb or a Gwinnett but has one city (Plano) approaching 300k, two others (McKinney and Frisco) well over 100k and a fourth, Allen nearing the 100k mark. The only thing resembling that in metro Atlanta is north Fulton and none of those cities have hit the 100k mark yet even though Sandy Springs and Roswell are close. But they are pretty built out and want go much past that. Out here, only Plano is reaching build out. McKinney and Frisco will both surpass Plano's population as they both have a much larger footprint and are both just reaching 50% of their potential. McKinney especially has more undeveloped land in its footprint than developed, it will approach 400k someday.

Sorry to be such a nerd on the subject. I have been interested in populations of cities since a kid. Don't ask me why.

I remember as a kid before consolidation you were nearly downtown before you saw the Augusta city limits sign. The old boundaries which only included downtown, the medical district and Summerville, definitely wouldn't have been able to support the growth.

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

What a minute!

I don't need a source! I live here,so I can tell you.



Population for BRAC was only an illusion for excitement. It didn't bring in as many people as we thought it would.

Did you not read the population stats that were posted earlier? After Brac Columbus had it's largest population increase.

[CenHigh05]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

I think we can say BRAC boosted Columbus population. However,BRAC ended THREE years ago! So that means Columbus has been sailing the growth ship in the past THREE years.

BRAC completion and job eliminations have led to fewer civilian employees at Fort Benning | Latest News | Columbus Ledger Enquirer

BRAC really boosted Columbus, more than anything else. I wouldn't expect Columbus to gain as many people as it did in the past 3 years. It's growth will likely level out and be more steady. Think about it, it it were not for BRAC, would Columbus have as many people as it does now? The answer is no.

[masonbauknight]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

Masonbauknight has some beef with Hall County that I don't understand.

Pure speculation on your part. I've actually always liked Gainesville, and should it become third-largest or even second-largest municipality in Georgia through consolidation, that's fine by me. I just find all the speculation on Georgia urban areas in C-D threads fantastical and tiresome. I especially discount any demographic references to the 1960s and 1970s, which are neither here nor there in 2014. That was a different time in the country and in the economy of the South. And as for Savannah, it was a time when Savannah-Chatham was only the 5th-largest metro area in the state; it's now 3rd. Also it was when Savannah had the smallest airport and poorest highway links of all the 2nd-tier cities; that has been reversed. Chatham County's population loss was an anomaly and virtually the only urban meltdown in the South between 1960 and 1970. Main reason: the sudden, catastrophic closing of Hunter Air Force Base.

I agree with only two sweeping statements made thus far: (1) Savannah-Chatham consolidation is unlikely (much of it due to racial animus in my view, but that's another story), and (2) the BRAC might well have given Columbus-Muscogee a super boost that won't last forever. But I don't think Gainesville-Hall will be an easy merger at all, and I think the other smaller Hall municipalities will remain independent, thus bringing it shy of the magic number, 200,000. Gainesville may well move up the Georgia rankings, but 2nd or even 3rd place is a pipe dream.

[Columbuskidd92]

Originally Posted by CenHigh05

BRAC really boosted Columbus, more than anything else. I wouldn't expect Columbus to gain as many people as it did in the past 3 years. It's growth will likely level out and be more steady. Think about it, it it were not for BRAC, would Columbus have as many people as it does now? The answer is no.

Think about it, it it were not for BRAC, would Columbus have as many people as it does now? The answer is no.

How the answer is no? Can you predict the future?

[Columbuskidd92]

Originally Posted by PJA

I remember as a kid before consolidation you were nearly downtown before you saw the Augusta city limits sign. The old boundaries which only included downtown, the medical district and Summerville, definitely wouldn't have been able to support the growth.



Did you not read the population stats that were posted earlier? After Brac Columbus had it's largest population increase.

Yeah,Columbus population was 194,000+ in 2011. That's up 5k from it being 189,000+ in 2010.

[Columbuskidd92]

Hall County is just another county in the hands of Atlanta. That alone explains the recent growth there.

[CenHigh05]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

How the answer is no? Can you predict the future?

This has nothing do with the future. More with the fast. If you look at past growth trends from Columbus, they were steady until BRAC. If it were not for BRAC, Columbus would have likely maintained steady growth within the last 3 years, whether than leaping forward.

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

Hall County is just another county in the hands of Atlanta. That alone explains the recent growth there.

I would feel sad if anyone in Hall commuted to Atlanta.