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Does it deter you that cities like Seattle, Austin, Denver, Portland, Raleigh and Charlotte are growing at such a fast pace, or would you still move there? A lot of these mid-sized cities are expanding so rapidly that their infrastructure cannot support the population surge...traffic congestion, rising rents, intense competition for jobs, constant construction and generally very crowded public places / parks.
I'd be curious to see the growth rates. Are Portland/Seattle/Denver growing as fast as Austin/Charlotte/Raleigh? The former three seem more "established" despite growth rates.
The single biggest driver of a city's growth is whether or not people can find jobs there. If a city is booming, it's because there is a lot of good work there. So yes, I would definitely move to a city with rapid population growth.
Depends. Some cities can sustain the incoming people or are more prepared for growing populations. Others are in limbo or already fudged up (like Florida cities and their suburbs).
Moving to a city with a net out-migration means there are lots of houses for sale, really cheap.
...which pays off if and when that city experiences another boom. The OP listed cities that are all experiencing booms and lots of people in those cities are making a ton of ca$h. Eventually, every city experiences a slow down or a bust. A decade ago, suburbs were everything and downtowns were undesirable. Today, downtown properties are substantially more valuable and far flung suburbs less so.
The places I've enjoyed living the most have had slow steady growth. They're established, less chaotic. Pleasant.
The downside is trying to break into a culture full of people who have always lived there.
Still, I prefer them to fast growing cities that are often full of highly mobile transplants who may be gone next year for greener pastures.
Cities where the construction never ends. I can barely stand to drive through cities like that, even when I'm just passing through. Couldn't imagine living in such a place.
In some fast-growing parts of the country, they're building cities that don't have a lot of cohesion or structure. So even when they're "finished" with an area, it's still very odd and random. The modern way some places are building and growing is absolutely horrible. It's like there is no plan, or perhaps a dozen or so competing plans that conflict with each other.
Then there's the location of fast-growing cities. None of them are in places I'd live anyway. Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh... way too hot.
The rest are too expensive, and I don't care to live out west. It's good for vacations.
Last edited by northbound74; 06-23-2014 at 06:30 PM..
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