Will Atlanta become the 5th largest metropolitan area in the country? (comparison, pros)

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

Lol. Yet you live in Georgia. A state that thinks just like Texas lol.

Georgia did go Blue the last election cycle.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by primaltech

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._States_by_GDP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population

Uh, California has no state to be jealous of, especially not any of the hot and humid, socio-politically backwards southern states. California's economy is larger than India, and the UK, and France, and Australia. It's about the economic size of South America.

California is nothing to be jealous of. It's dry and constantly on fire, and I'm not a Republican but it's too extreme on the liberal side, lots of homeless because you have to be a millionaire to afford it and it's still struggle. It may have one of largest economies in the world but that don't mean the quality of life is great.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by cdw1084

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Exceptional post. However, are you saying that SF/San Jose and DC/Baltimore will combine into one metro? I can't see that based on the current commuting patterns and MSA definition. I think Atlanta will move past DC for 6th and sit there for a while.

Not saying it’ll combine based on the definitions. But, it’s sort of ridiculous to call it 2 metros, speaking as a Bay Area resident. It’s a continuous populated area with no breaks. It is a single media market, single sports market and plenty of people commute in both directions for jobs.

[primaltech]

The west coast is expensive for a reason. If it wasn't desirable, it wouldn't be expensive.

[MikeL78]

Nashville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Tampa and Orlando will help keep Atlanta’s population under control. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great city but I couldn’t imagine a few million more with the traffic system.

I see people mentioning Phoenix can’t get bigger. I wouldn’t bet on that. I’ve lived here 20 years and people are always saying it will run out of water. We conserve water. If push comes to shove just look at Israel. They solved their problem with desalination in a decade I think. California needs to get on that because their water issues are way worse than Arizona.

East coast cities have more options and I think being close together might keep it from getting out of control. Arizona and Texas are booming because there are not a lot of choices due to cities being spread out. Things are concentrating fast.

[cdw1084]

Originally Posted by MikeL78

Nashville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Tampa and Orlando will help keep Atlanta’s population under control. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great city but I couldn’t imagine a few million more with the traffic system.

I see people mentioning Phoenix can’t get bigger. I wouldn’t bet on that. I’ve lived here 20 years and people are always saying it will run out of water. We conserve water. If push comes to shove just look at Israel. They solved their problem with desalination in a decade I think. California needs to get on that because their water issues are way worse than Arizona.

East coast cities have more options and I think being close together might keep it from getting out of control. Arizona and Texas are booming because there are not a lot of choices due to cities being spread out. Things are concentrating fast.

Atlanta's going to continue to grow at least 50,000 annually regardless of the traffic problems. The business atmosphere there and logistics advantage will ensure of that. Regarding Phoenix, it will continue to grow as well as long as people leave California.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

Georgia did go Blue the last election cycle.

To be fair, because of the way the voting system works, it will be much harder for Texas to turn blue than Georgia due to how much more rural land it encompasses compared to urbanized areas.

[mattee01]

Hard to say, as trends over long terms can swing things either way. Going the way it has been, then yes. BUT if Atlanta doesn’t work proactively to address crime and traffic then that complicates things. It’s not just about new births but relocations. In order for the pace to keep up, we have to make sure we remain desirable to new businesses that would locate or expand here and for people to want to live here.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

To be fair, because of the way the voting system works, it will be much harder for Texas to turn blue than Georgia due to how much more rural land it encompasses compared to urbanized areas.

More of Texas's population (67%) lives in metro areas of 1M+ inhabitants, however. There are four such metro areas in Texas - DFW, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. ATL is the only such metro in Georgia, and it represents just 56% of the population.

I agree that turning Texas blue does seem like an uphill battle, but its urban/rural ratio in comparison to Georgia's does seem to indicate that it should be possible.

[MikeL78]

Originally Posted by cdw1084

Atlanta's going to continue to grow at least 50,000 annually regardless of the traffic problems. The business atmosphere there and logistics advantage will ensure of that. Regarding Phoenix, it will continue to grow as well as long as people leave California.

That’s true. I didn’t mean it wouldn’t grow. Just those cities could help keep it in check of having insane growth. The one thing that could increase growth is if GA keeps voting blue. That is a differentiator with all of the other cities. Tech companies will absolutely prefer that.