Population Growth (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga: home, job transfer, school)

[JMT]

New Census figures have been released for 2006 population estimates. I think it's interesting to see where the growth is taking place in Tennessee metropolitan and micropolitan areas.

I'm using figures for some of the cities and towns mentioned more frequently in this forum.

Chattanooga added 20,173 people with a 2006 population of 496,704.
Clarksville added 8,500 people with a 2006 population of 240,500.
Cookeville added 6,525 with a 2006 population of 99,942.
Crossville added 5,542 with a 2006 population of 52,344.
Greeneville added 3,036 with a 2006 population of 65,945.
Johnson City added 9,529 people with a 2006 population of 191,136.
Kingsport-Bristol added 3,867 people with a 2006 population of 302,451.
Knoxville added 51,305 people with a 2006 population of 667,384.
Memphis added 69,500 people with a 2006 population of 1,274,704
Nashville added 143,308 people with a 2006 population of 1,455,097.
Sevierville* added 10,212 people with a 2006 population of 81,382.

*Sevierville used to be part of the Knoxville metro area, but now it's its own micropolitan area.

The fastest-growing metro area in the country? ATLANTA. Between 2000 and 2006 Atlanta added 890,242 to its metro area and has a 2006 population of 5,138,223, which is double the growth experienced in South Florida which added 456,293 people for a 2006 total of 5,463,857. Another reason I'm glad I don't live in Atlanta anymore. Or South Florida.

That also means Atlanta is now the 9th largest metropolitan area in the country; since 2000 it surpassed Detroit and Boston. And if not for immigrants moving in, Boston and New York would've shrunk in population since 2000.

[Tek_Freek]

If I remember correctly Atlanta is now the busiest airport.

Checked, and yes, it is.

http://tinyurl.com/yocfdj (broken link)

(http://tinyurl.com/2x3jsx - broken link)

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by JMT

New Census figures have been released for 2006 population estimates. I think it's interesting to see where the growth is taking place in Tennessee metropolitan and micropolitan areas.

I'm using figures for some of the cities and towns mentioned more frequently in this forum.

Chattanooga added 20,173 people with a 2006 population of 496,704.
Clarksville added 8,500 people with a 2006 population of 240,500.
Cookeville added 6,525 with a 2006 population of 99,942.
Crossville added 5,542 with a 2006 population of 52,344.
Greeneville added 3,036 with a 2006 population of 65,945.
Johnson City added 9,529 people with a 2006 population of 191,136.
Kingsport-Bristol added 3,867 people with a 2006 population of 302,451.
Knoxville added 51,305 people with a 2006 population of 667,384.
Memphis added 69,500 people with a 2006 population of 1,274,704
Nashville added 143,308 people with a 2006 population of 1,455,097.
Sevierville* added 10,212 people with a 2006 population of 81,382.

*Sevierville used to be part of the Knoxville metro area, but now it's its own micropolitan area.

The fastest-growing metro area in the country? ATLANTA. Between 2000 and 2006 Atlanta added 890,242 to its metro area and has a 2006 population of 5,138,223, which is double the growth experienced in South Florida which added 456,293 people for a 2006 total of 5,463,857. Another reason I'm glad I don't live in Atlanta anymore. Or South Florida.

That also means Atlanta is now the 9th largest metropolitan area in the country; since 2000 it surpassed Detroit and Boston. And if not for immigrants moving in, Boston and New York would've shrunk in population since 2000.

Hi JMT,

Some of the numbers appear to be incorrect. For example,Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed says that as of 2007, the population of Cookeville is 24,987. They report Crossville's population as 9,443.

[CUinTN]

Some of the numbers appear to be incorrect. For example,Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed says that as of 2007, the population of Cookeville is 24,987. They report Crossville's population as 9,443.

And they show Greeneville with a population of 65k + when the 2000 census claims 15k +. Maybe they mean all of Greene county, but it sure didn't seem like a big city of 65000 when I was there last month

[JMT]

Originally Posted by CUinTN

And they show Greeneville with a population of 65k + when the 2000 census claims 15k +. Maybe they mean all of Greene county, but it sure didn't seem like a big city of 65000 when I was there last month

The population figures are for metropolitan and micropolitan areas, not city populations. I guess I didn't make that clear in my original message. A micropolitan area is essentially a small metropolitan area.

And you're right, the Greeneville micropolitan area includes all of Greene County. I think it's pretty logical to do that. In Greeneville's case, a mere 15,000 people couldn't support all the stores and restaurants that there are in Greeneville, but when you tell people that there are 65,000 people in the entire county, and they all pretty much do all of their shopping in Greeneville, that helps.

In Nashville's case, the metropolitan area includes not just the city of Nashville but also surrounding counties like Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson, and others. That means that more than 25% of the people in those surrounding counties commute into Nashville to work. To me, it makes perfect sense. If someone from Mount Juliet is traveling overseas and someone asks him where he's from, he won't say "Mount Juliet" he'll probably say "Nashville" even though he technically isn't from Nashville.

As for that Sperling's Best Places, it's incorrect. According to the US Census Bureau (which is where official populations are tabulated) Cookeville had a 2005 city population of 27,743.

[sliverbox]

Actually, I posted something about the 'native' population reductions in major cities earlier. Almost ALL major metros like NYC, LA, SF, Boston, and so forth lost 'native' populations. NYC being the winner with over half a million. So the census is from 2000-2007? If so, than none of the numbers seem horribly alarming for any TN city except maybe Nashville. 145k is a LOT for a city that size to gain. It would be interesting to see in what years was there the most domestic in-migration. I would suspect that 2003 on are the highest years which would correlate with rising home prices in major metros.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

Actually, I posted something about the 'native' population reductions in major cities earlier. Almost ALL major metros like NYC, LA, SF, Boston, and so forth lost 'native' populations. NYC being the winner with over half a million. So the census is from 2000-2007? If so, than none of the numbers seem horribly alarming for any TN city except maybe Nashville. 145k is a LOT for a city that size to gain. It would be interesting to see in what years was there the most domestic in-migration. I would suspect that 2003 on are the highest years which would correlate with rising home prices in major metros.

Yeah those figures are from 2000-2006. And while Nashville's growth is definitely strong, it pales in comparison to Atlanta's. I am soooo glad I don't live in Atlanta anymore. Can you imagine adding, in 7 years, the entire population of metropolitan Knoxville AND Johnson City combined? And that's without adding any new highways. Small wonder driving through Atlanta is such a nightmare.

By comparison, Charlotte NC added about 250,000 between 2000-2006, and it's only slightly larger than Nashville (1.58 million vs. 1.46 million).

[Braves_fan]

Just like I feared ... were being invaded with too many outsiders.

[Jon F Moss]

ahem...is there room for 3 more in TN?

[Braves_fan]

I guess I just dont see why everyone thinks they HAVE to move to the Southeastern US to get away from whatever they feel they dont have at home. If it's a job transfer then OK, good luck! but just know that It's nothing personal, and Ive allready had about six of my posts deleted by our moderator who's most likely not even a native of this State either.
But for the folks who do want to move to Eastern Tn and they ask where the safer areas with less riff raff are.. I tell them, and for some reason I'm not allowed to do that either without being accused of or coming across "racist". People need to understand that this is still the Old South in alot of ways, we have ways we choose to live and thats the way it'll always be.
Thats the problem with folks these days, they cant handle the truth. Now, I'm not here to discourage anyone from moving, it's a free country, do what ya'll want. Like I mentioned before, one of my best friends moved here from NY State with $400.00 in his pocket and a sack of clothes. Its worked out great for him, but it always doesnt work out for families who have children in school and are use to living a certain way, different from how we live.