5,505,161 (Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah: homes, school, living)

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by Drewplanner

The actual total for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 5,522,942 - you left out Morgan County 17,781 (added in 2013).

BTW, the CSA - Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs is 6,162,195.

So if it's really 5,522,942, then that's over 80k growth....that's seem to be more right. 68k seemed oddly low.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Drewplanner

The actual total for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 5,522,942 - you left out Morgan County 17,781 (added in 2013).

Jesus Christ, I thought including Heard, Jasper and Meriwether Counties was ridiculous enough. Morgan County?!

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Jesus Christ, I thought including Heard, Jasper and Meriwether Counties was ridiculous enough. Morgan County?!

This is why I think the true size of the Atlanta metro is more like 4.6 million. I rarely see Morgan tags flocking into Atlanta every morning. I don't see how that is apart of the Atlanta metro...that's literally like 40 miles East of downtown. Sprawlanta strikes again.

[AtlantaIsHot]

All southern metropolitan areas have slowed in this decade. Charlotte, Raleigh, and Dallas have also slowed according to the estimate. Dallas-Fort Worth added 108,000, down from over 150,000 the previous years before. The only one growing at roughly the same pace is Houston. Houston managed to eek out 138,000 (still down from past years). I figure it has a lot to do with the energy boom and growing trade at the Port of Houston. As for the others, their economies have still not fully recovered so it's easy to see why they have not regained the numerical increases they have seen. Another notable trend is the dramatic slowdown of southwestern cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix (like Atlanta slammed by over-reliance on real estate). It's still notable that Atlanta grew faster than I thought it would. It's also showing a CLEAR acceleration from the 2 years before. Almost 70,000 is a good number for a bad economy and is a number any northern city would kill for. Chicago added only 23,000 people for a measly 0.2% growth. What is stunning about Georgia is the decline of some of it's other metros. Augusta declined?? What gives? Dalton decreased. Macon decreased by almost 1% in one year. Atlanta is the only thing moving in Georgia with the exception of Columbus and Savannah.

[Columbuskidd92]

Meanwhile South Georgia starting to like a third would country.

[cdw1084]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

This is why I think the true size of the Atlanta metro is more like 4.6 million. I rarely see Morgan tags flocking into Atlanta every morning. I don't see how that is apart of the Atlanta metro...that's literally like 40 miles East of downtown. Sprawlanta strikes again.

We don't determine the sizes of metros and if that's the case...Houston and Dallas would be more like 5 million.

[workaholics]

These estimates show a continued slow and steady climb for Atlanta, so I take this as good news. The metro area got ravaged by the recession and it's still going to take us more time to fully recover, and even then we probably won't see the same growth we had 10 years ago, because it was unsustainable. Still, I can see us getting back to adding around 100K each year by the latter part of the decade. Everything that made Atlanta so attractive is still in place and getting better.

And for those of you who might be a little jealous of Dallas and Houston, just remember that their growth has slowed down too and they hit really hard times when Atlanta was at the top of its game (80s- early 90s). Five to ten years from now, we could see Atlanta start to grow faster again. It ebbs and flows among the three cities.

Anybody know why Fulton's growth was underwhelming this year?? I figured it would pass the million mark.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

That's amazing. Georgia really needs to focus on helping other cities like Columbus and Savannah grow. Georgia's 2nd tier cities have grown but nothing like they should IMO. Glad to see Columbus at #2 in the state though!

How exactly would Georgia do that? People move where they want.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by cdw1084

We don't determine the sizes of metros and if that's the case...Houston and Dallas would be more like 5 million.

The Atlanta urban area is only 4.6 million and Houston's isn't much bigger. If I was from another country and had to guess Atlanta's metro population from being in the city core and seeing how big is skyline was, I'd guess 4-5 million.

[AtlantaIsHot]

It's noteworthy that the UN also examines population statistics. According to their data, which is largely in line with national data, the Atlanta developed land area (sizable urban, suburban, commercial, as well as industrial development) that is contiguous had a population of 5 million at last estimate (2012 I believe). You can remove all those tiny rural counties from the equation and it makes little difference. All metropolitan areas contain rural areas. They are included if they fall into the commuter belt.

I noticed Atlanta had it's previous estimate reduced for 2012. It went from 5,475,000 to 5,454,000. A county must have been removed.

This also recalls the fears that the previous recession/real estate bust caused in Atlanta. I remember being stunned by the major slowdown Atlanta saw in 2001-2003. In one of those years, the Atlanta MSA added only 61,000 people and everyone thought it was the end of boomville. A few years later it was back at 120,000-140,000 a year and one year added 160,000. The business climate and educational facilities in Georgia cannot be held back unless you choose to do so.