New Milestone for the Austin Metro Area Predicted this Year (West: 2014, high school)

[gabetx]

Sometime in 2018, the Austin metro area is predicted to exceed 2.2 million people. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is a hot topic and is up for debate. As a transplant myself, I will keep my thoughts to myself for now. However, there is no denying this; Austin continues to grow at an exponential pace and continues to be a popular destination for American's across the country.

What are your thoughts?

[Austin97]

it isnt exponential. Why is 2.2 a milestone?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Austin97

it isnt exponential. Why is 2.2 a milestone?

Like so many other terms that used to have an actual meaning, I'm afraid 'exponential' has come to mean..."a whole bunch". Dang

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

The headline of the linked article uses the word "milestone". I was thinking the "milestone" might be the City of Austin is projected to be over a million. The United States Census Bureau latest estimate from July 1st, 2016 estimated the Austin population at 947,000 people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin...as?wprov=sfla1

[centralaustinite]

I think 2018 will be notable for the number of local businesses who close due to rising rents and high land prices. Just in the few weeks of the year Over the Rainbow, Jaya, and Bonzai are closing, Over the Rainbow has been in business for 31 years, Bonzai 22! Each one hurts. It will be easier for us to leave a more homogenized, national chain-filled Austin however. So there is that.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

The headline of the linked article uses the word "milestone". I was thinking the "milestone" might be the City of Austin is projected to be over a million. The United States Census Bureau latest estimate from July 1st, 2016 estimated the Austin population at 947,000 people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin...as?wprov=sfla1

Yeah, I guess "milestone" used to mean something also.
I reckon 2.2 has a nice numerical symmetry to it; but I'm not sure it denotes a "milestone" like 2.0 or 2.5 might suggest.

Gotta find SOMEthing for the headline 'hook', I suppose.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by gabetx

Sometime in 2018, the Austin metro area is predicted to exceed 2.2 million people. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is a hot topic and is up for debate. As a transplant myself, I will keep my thoughts to myself for now. However, there is no denying this; Austin continues to grow at an exponential pace and continues to be a popular destination for American's across the country.

What are your thoughts?

I don't see that there is much debate about the topic. The continued rapid growth of the Austin metro area is a bad thing for the community. The community has not been able to keep up with the rapid growth in regards to traffic or housing, resulting in a lower quality of life. The negative aspects of heavy traffic speak for themselves. The ready supply of people looking for work has kept wages lower than other areas, while the high demand for housing has resulted in higher prices that have not been matched by the areas wages.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by Austin97

it isnt exponential. Why is 2.2 a milestone?

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Like so many other terms that used to have an actual meaning, I'm afraid 'exponential' has come to mean..."a whole bunch". Dang

Wait, are y'all being serious? The Austin metro population over time is about as classic an example of exponential growth in the real world as you can get, and the new numbers are only confirming that.



A = population at year 0
B = population at year 1
C = population at year 2
I'll assume a 3% annual growth rate, which is what Austin has been growing at for roughly the last 70 years, but any consistent percentage growth is an exponential function.

B = 1.03*A
C = 1.03*B = 1.03*(1.03*A) = A*1.03^2

Population at x years after A = A*1.03^x

An exponential function...

[10scoachrick]

I believe this definition is more descriptive of the term....
"
ex·po·nen·tial growth
noun
noun: exponential growth

1. growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size."
   
   
   
   

Your take on the term would suggest the meaning to be meaningLESS, since any consistent growth would be called "exponential"...hardly out of the ordinary...even one tenth of one percent growth annually.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

I believe this definition is more descriptive of the term....
"
ex·po·nen·tial growth
noun
noun: exponential growth

1. growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size."
   
   
   
   

Your take on the term would suggest the meaning to be meaningLESS, since any consistent growth would be called "exponential"...hardly out of the ordinary...even one tenth of one percent growth annually.

You're misinterpreting the definition you're using. There's a difference between an increase of the growth rate (i.e. Austin's growth rate increased from 2% annually in 2012 to 4% in 2013 to 6% in 2014), and exponential growth, which is growth whose rate increases (i.e. Austin added 30,000 people/year in 2012 and 35,000 people/year in 2013 and 42,000 people/year in 2014). OP very much used the word correctly. This isn't "my definition". It's math and science terminology you learn in high school that's used in the real world all the time. I'm not making up the definition of an exponential function, and I'm not sure I can divine what your personal colloquial definition is.

3-4% annual growth, which is what Austin has sustained for 70 years, is indeed growing extraordinarily fast for a city in a Western nation.