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Cary has actually expanded relatively little in recent years...area increased by about 7% between 2010 and 2015. But population grew by 18%, which corresponds to a 10% increase in density from just under 2500 per square mile to about 2750.
Very interesting. I wonder where the other towns will fall into this 'pattern'.
Cary has actually expanded relatively little in recent years...area increased by about 7% between 2010 and 2015. But population grew by 18%, which corresponds to a 10% increase in density from just under 2500 per square mile to about 2750.
Plenty of annexed subdivisions that filled in after things started to pick up in 2010--2011.
We didn't need area as much as we needed buyers for platted lots.
So, does anyone else find it crazy that suburbs Apex and Wake Forest have the same amount of people as stand alone cities like Goldsboro, Wilson, and New Bern?
Relative to what? Not Atlanta, not Dallas, certainly not L.A. Not even compared to north Raleigh <-> RTP 20 years ago before 540 opened.
Relative to what everyone who has lived here more than about 10 years is used to.
Which is really ALL that matters to the people who live here now. For people who want to move here, making comparisons to traffic in other cities is useful, because it allows them to gauge whether or not they'll find the traffic here to be reasonable.
But, comparing the Triangle to Atlanta or LA is about as useful with comparing the Triangle with Cambodia, is it not?
Yes... we might have hungry people here and it may be an increasing problem, but it is not at all as bad as Cambodia and probably never will be.
Doesn't mean people aren't still hungry and that it's not still a problem.
Btw, this really wasn't addressed specifically to you wizard. I just see this come up every time anyone mentions traffic around here.
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Cary's growth of 18% in just five years is a lot.
But Apex(22%) and Wake Forest and Holly Springs(27%) had even larger growth rates.
I think that he was trying to point out is that the growth rate for Cary is surprisingly high based on the fact their population was already 3x's that of Apex. It's True that the Growth rate of Apex, Wake Forest and Holly Springs is off the charts as well.
What's shocking me is that Apex will be the 4th largest municipality in the entire Triangle within the next 10 years and will likely stay there for a long time to come, if not almost permanently.
Relative to what? Not Atlanta, not Dallas, certainly not L.A. Not even compared to north Raleigh <-> RTP 20 years ago before 540 opened.
Los Angeles and Atlanta are models of what not to do. I have some friends in NYC and they all stated that rush hour traffic in RDU is as bad as in NY, if not worse. The part that doesn't make sense is our metro has like 1/20th the population; so, it really shouldn't be this bad.
The main issue, in my opinion, is sprawl. That's what we have in common with LA and ATL. Raleigh and Durham aren't right next to each other to begin with, like say Minneapolis and St Paul, for instance. On top of that, you have more than half the population in suburbs like Cary, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, etc.
When everything is spread out and everyone relies on a car, you can build lanes all you want, but if things continue to grow like this, spreading out, and being more reliant on cars, things will only get worse.
I'm not anti-car, and I'm not anti-growth. But it's pretty much a fact that this type of growth causes major traffic issues.
Slightly related, but, for those wondering why Chapel Hill isn't growing, that's on purpose. I talked to some people in Chapel Hill planning and they have strict laws regarding growth zones, building heights, etc. Chapel Hill wants to remain more of a town vibe. I don't live in Chapel Hill, and I almost never go there, but I respect this more than the way Cary goes about things.
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