Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Advertisements
Actually, I don't see any boom towns in the near future because of the change in annexation laws. Cities are pretty much stuck with the current borders.
While I expect all of the state's metros to grow and some of them to grow at faster rates than the state or national rates, I don't really see any new boomtown areas on the horizon for NC.
Many NC's rural counties will most likely to continue contraction or see little to no growth at all. The Metros will continue to absorb the rural counties' losses. For one of NCs other metros to actually "boom" in the near future, an enormous catalyst is going to have to emerge to drive it. Right now I just don't see a catalyst of that significance happening elsewhere in the state.
Some might argue that ECU is such a catalyst but I am not convinced. It's not as if ECU is something new. Sure it's growing rapidly but its impact hasn't been enough to cause a signifant boom in Greenville.
A wild card regarding boomtowns might be an future tax policy that the state pursues. An example could be a boom in retirement areas on the coast and in the sandhills if the state eliminates income tax. NC could get a big boom of retirees to key areas.
I agree with your catalyst comments...and I agree that ECU itself is not creating a boom in Greenville, I think its a three part issue in Greenville.
1) ECU, it is growing in number of students and continues to do as such...included with ECU is also Pitt Comm Coll which has over 7K students...and ECU's on line programs which have over 6,000 students and are supported from Greenville.
2) Commercial expansion continues in Greenville, fueling low wage job creation that is attracting folks from surrounding areas that have no job creation...there is an exodus from the rural areas around Greenville to Greenville...especially by the younger crowd.
3) The Medical Complex is booming...not just stuff like the Dental School, Heart Institute and Nursing School...but a new Veterans Hospital, Childrens Hospital and huge bed towers at Vidant Medical Center...this is fueling higher paid jobs in the health industry and attracting out of state talent. Vidant now has 10 hospitals under its control and the main med center is in Greenville.
So taking those three things into account it creates a boom because of all the accessory stuff it creates....like a new Residence Inn next to the Hospital or new restaurants in the past year like Mellow Mushroom, Cheddars, Bonefish, & Carolina Ale House as well as others...a new Dicks just opened, a 2nd Wal-Mart is being built, etc...
In the Wilmington area you have the "desirability" of living next to the coast for those that can work there or out of anywhere, but also the retirees that fund it and the continued expansion of the tourism industry. All of those factor into becoming a booming area (creating more conmmercial construction as well)...its just the economy that slowed down the job growth by GE, Corning, PPD and others looking to relocate...but it will pick back up in the next couple of years including last month's announcement of Castle Branch's headquarters moving there from California.
That might lead to an uptick in growth, but I don't see that resulting in a boom; you've just got to have a larger and more diversified industrial base. As long as Asheville remains averse to big economic developments, I just don't see it happening.
I would suspect that eventually you are going to get a critical mass such that something big will come out of it.
I agree with your catalyst comments...and I agree that ECU itself is not creating a boom in Greenville, I think its a three part issue in Greenville.
1) ECU, it is growing in number of students and continues to do as such...included with ECU is also Pitt Comm Coll which has over 7K students...and ECU's on line programs which have over 6,000 students and are supported from Greenville.
2) Commercial expansion continues in Greenville, fueling low wage job creation that is attracting folks from surrounding areas that have no job creation...there is an exodus from the rural areas around Greenville to Greenville...especially by the younger crowd.
3) The Medical Complex is booming...not just stuff like the Dental School, Heart Institute and Nursing School...but a new Veterans Hospital, Childrens Hospital and huge bed towers at Vidant Medical Center...this is fueling higher paid jobs in the health industry and attracting out of state talent. Vidant now has 10 hospitals under its control and the main med center is in Greenville.
So taking those three things into account it creates a boom because of all the accessory stuff it creates....like a new Residence Inn next to the Hospital or new restaurants in the past year like Mellow Mushroom, Cheddars, Bonefish, & Carolina Ale House as well as others...a new Dicks just opened, a 2nd Wal-Mart is being built, etc...
In the Wilmington area you have the "desirability" of living next to the coast for those that can work there or out of anywhere, but also the retirees that fund it and the continued expansion of the tourism industry. All of those factor into becoming a booming area (creating more conmmercial construction as well)...its just the economy that slowed down the job growth by GE, Corning, PPD and others looking to relocate...but it will pick back up in the next couple of years including last month's announcement of Castle Branch's headquarters moving there from California.
We may have different definitions of "boomtown"??? I just don't see a true boomtown environment anywhere else in NC (other than the Triangle & Charlotte) in the near or middle future.
This doesn't take away from communities growing across the state. I just wouldn't call them boomtowns.
Actually, I don't see any boom towns in the near future because of the change in annexation laws. Cities are pretty much stuck with the current borders.
I think you're taking it a bit too literally. Would you say that Atlanta wasn't a boomtown in the previous decade because the city itself only grew by a few thousand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomstudent
I would suspect that eventually you are going to get a critical mass such that something big will come out of it.
That critical mass may or may not occur. And a critical mass of people working remotely means that the city is missing out big time on the corporate wealth that helps to define a boomtown.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
I think you're taking it a bit too literally. Would you say that Atlanta wasn't a boomtown in the previous decade because the city itself only grew by a few thousand?
My interpretation of what the OP wants is literally what has happened in the past, & that relied heavily on annexation. With little to no annexation, it just won't happen.
My interpretation of what the OP wants is literally what has happened in the past, & that relied heavily on annexation. With little to no annexation, it just won't happen.
I think the OP is obviously talking about the economic dynamics that facilitate actual growth. The first post in the thread says:
"While NC is blessed to have a large, economic center like Charlotte and a powerful university triangle, what other cities/towns (small or mid-sized) could also have a bright future?"
They can built business parks, open factories, ect. Yes, it will employ people, no it doesn't make it anymore of a "big" city mindset and isn't receiving national attention or the growth. IMO, there's nothing that stands out. Nothing makes either a "tier 1 city", other then population.
You should educate yourself on these cities before knocking them down like this. You obviously don't know much about either city to make such comments.
Neither is a experiencing a boom, but both GSO and W-S have the promise of the possibility in the near future. We're not talking simply a business park in W-S, but a large and successful research park - read up a little on it before calling it such a silly name...http://www.wakeforestinnovationquarter.com/
Corporate headquarters? The arts? Historical treasures? Health care industry? Universities? etc, etc, etc....any of this ring a bell toward "standing out"?
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
I think the OP is obviously talking about the economic dynamics that facilitate actual growth. The first post in the thread says:
"While NC is blessed to have a large, economic center like Charlotte and a powerful university triangle, what other cities/towns (small or mid-sized) could also have a bright future?"
Clearly this goes waaaayyy beyond annexation.
I agree on your interpretation of the original post, it's the subsequent posts attacking various suggestions & posting of high growth rates that were heavily reliant on annexation that changed my mind.
We may have different definitions of "boomtown"??? I just don't see a true boomtown environment anywhere else in NC (other than the Triangle & Charlotte) in the near or middle future.
This doesn't take away from communities growing across the state. I just wouldn't call them boomtowns.
I completely disagree...I noted Winterville's 48% population growth between 2000 and 2010, just outside of Greenville...that matches the growth in the towns outside of Raleigh...and Leland outside of Wilmington has an even more impressive growth...it was under 2,000 in 2000 and was over 13,000 by 2010...and it was all construction related (not annexation)...that has to go under the heading of "boomtown" in any definition. It also noted huge commercial growth during that period. There is currently developments under construction that will add as many as 10,000 to that population by 2020.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
