The US Census Bureau thread

[LMich]

I'm not surprised by what they found for Charlotte, even though they had had it growing slower than what the count found (off by 27,000 from the 2009 estimate).

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Technology and banking. I've heard that health related industry does well, too.

Cheap housing was a big motivator in the mid to late 2000's as well. There was a massive migration from South Florida to North Carolina in 2006-2009 mostly due to people simply not being able to afford to live in South Florida anymore. North Carolina definitely became the state of choice for retirees from South Florida as well. 4 people retired from my work in the last few years, they all moved to North Carolina.

[blorkishdork]

I also remember reading about the "half-back" phenomenon. People who moved from the north east down to florida found themselves longing to be closer to the North east where potential grand kids etc. are and found themselves in North Carolina. A nice compromise, close to the kid's yet still warm and peaceful.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by blorkishdork

I also remember reading about the "half-back" phenomenon. People who moved from the north east down to florida found themselves longing to be closer to the North east where potential grand kids etc. are and found themselves in North Carolina. A nice compromise, close to the kid's yet still warm and peaceful.

North Carolina also has to be one of the most attractive states in the U.S. with its large cities, good jobs, colonial history, mountains in the west and ocean in the east with forests in between. Very nice place with decent weather too. Its high population growth doesn't surprise me at all, especially with retirees.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by BG918

North Carolina also has to be one of the most attractive states in the U.S. with its large cities, good jobs, colonial history, mountains in the west and ocean in the east with forests in between. Very nice place with decent weather too. Its high population growth doesn't surprise me at all, especially with retirees.

Being a native North Carolinian, I agree...but I'm not sure I would call NC's cities "large". Semi-large maybe.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by KB0679

No, annexation. The stats bear that out as the city grew by almost 80K over the course of the decade whereas the county only grew by a little over 16K. The municipal growth is largely artificial and can primarily be attributed to two big annexations, the first being its largest ever in 2004 when it expanded by almost 27 sq mi and gained over 42K residents and the second in 2008 when the city annexed most of Fort Bragg which added about 30K more people to the city.

I was thinking that there was a city/county consolidation sometime over the past couple of years in Fayetteville-Cumberland Couty, hence the large population increase. No?

[hudkina]

Is the weather in NC really that much more pleasant?

Average winter lows in the high 20's and average winter highs near 90 degrees doesn't sound all that different from the northeast. Sure the winters aren't as extreme as areas to the north and the summers aren't quite as hot as areas to the south, but it seems that instead of getting the warmer southern winters and cooler northern summers, it gets a slightly less cold winter and a slightly less hot summer.

For example, in Greensboro the average daily low is at or below freezing from December 9th to February 24th. In Philadelphia the average daily low is at or below freezing from December 9th to March 7th. So on average, Greensboro sees twelve fewer days with freezing temperatures than Philadelphia.

Granted, in Philadelphia the average mean temperature falls below 40 degrees from December 9th to March 4th. In Greensboro it falls below 40 degrees from December 23rd to February 6th, so there are nearly twice as many days in Philadelphia where the mean temperature is below 40 degrees compared to Greensboro. I think once you get above 40 degrees, especially on a sunny day, the temperatures are bearable to most people.

[northbay]

impressive figures for nc

Originally Posted by Dralcoffin

Arizona, California, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin

[trvlr70]

Originally Posted by hudkina

Is the weather in NC really that much more pleasant?.

I recently read someplace that Asheville, NC has the most pleasant weather east of Denver in the United States. Basically all four seasons, but all moderate as well. No extreme heat or cold and ample sunshine.

[hudkina]

Asheville gets even colder than other North Carolina cities in the winter, thanks to being in the mountains.

The average daily low is at or below freezing from December 3rd to March 1st. That means there are just as many days (90) in Asheville where the temperature is on average at or below freezing as there are in Philadelphia. The average mean temperature is below 40 degrees from December 17th to February 14th, which equates to 60 days. Essentially, Asheville residents get one less month of winter than Philadelphians.

[alex1]

Originally Posted by BG918

North Carolina also has to be one of the most attractive states in the U.S. with its large cities, good jobs, colonial history, mountains in the west and ocean in the east with forests in between. Very nice place with decent weather too. Its high population growth doesn't surprise me at all, especially with retirees.

it's also one of the few states in the South that has really good universities. It's a huge boon to local economies.

[blorkishdork]

While we are on the topic about Asheville's climate. Asheville is significantly less humid in the summers. So even if on average Asheville is a degree or whatever cooler than Philly, it generally feels more comfortable because the humidity is much lower.

[fflint]

California is out next week. Oh boy.

Going on what I've seen so far I'm going to make some predictions, which I'm totally pulling out of thin air.

Oakland: I suspect Oakland will show either a population loss or basically no growth, despite a hearty increase in the downtown population--I'm thinking maybe the Reverse Great Migration will show blacks moving out of Oaktown and smaller family sizes among remaining residents.

Sacramento: I suspect Sacramento will have the best numbers for any big city in the state. Going on what I've seen so far in the Census releases, the cities that built suburban housing within city limits boomed the most, and Sacramento did that in spades.

San Francisco: This one is tough. We had a really big increase in downtown housing over the last decade, but we also tore down our public housing projects and replaced at a less than 1:1 ratio. Sound familiar? Add to that the anecdotes we've been hearing for the last decade that families with kids are bum-rushing the exits, and I fear SF will show population decline or, at best, stagnation. Then again, we might be able to pull off some moderate growth like Seattle and DC did. We built a lot of housing and have very low vacancy/repo rates.

San Jose: I expect to see some pretty decent growth in San Jose, not like Charlotte or Fort Worth, but solid gains from medium-density infill in a mostly suburban city with lots of families with children and a densifying, mostly Latino east side.

[sofresh808]

Oakland is hard to tell, I wouldn't compare it to Chicago or St. Louis, since it has experienced heavy immigration from Latinos and Asians in its working class neighborhoods, that could off-set any loss in its Black population (likely larger families replacing aging households). Be curious to see if the census verifies that Whites make up the plurality of the Town's population these days too.

[Matthew]

The weather in North Carolina changes as you move up in elevation. Goldsboro has extremely hot summers. Boone and Asheville have cooler summers and cold northern-like winters. This area of the state has ski-resorts and a strong fall and winter tourism economy. Fayetteville and Raleigh - 300' ASL (above sea-level), Durham - 400' ASL, Charlotte - 700' ASL, Greensboro - 750' ASL, Winston-Salem - 1,000' ASL, Asheville - 2,000' ASL

North Carolina has two of the top twenty-five universities in the nation (Duke in Durham and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem). Both are private universities. The state's university system is also among the best. The state is also ranked as the third best center for bio-tech research and is home to several research parks, including Piedmont Triad Research Park (Winston-Salem), N.C. Research Campus (suburban Charlotte) and the famous RTP (Raleigh-Durham).

[ColDayMan]

For Ohio, I will predict this:

Seven out of the Big 8 will have losses, particularly Cleveland, Dayton, and Youngstown. Cincinnati will probably have a loss but not as drastic as the others. Columbus will show growth but not surprising growth.

[tech12]

Based on the numbers we've been seeing i could also see SF and Oakland staying stagnant or having a loss...but then again maybe not. I'm guessing SJ grew for sure though.

Originally Posted by fflint

San Francisco: This one is tough. We had a really big increase in downtown housing over the last decade, but we also tore down our public housing projects and replaced at a less than 1:1 ratio. Sound familiar?

We didn't tear down all or even close to all of our projects. Since the late 90's, a good amount have been torn down and then inevitably rebuilt at the less than 1:1 ration you talk about, but i doubt even half of SF's projects in total have had this happen so far. But even so, from what i hear there are increasing evictions going on, including the eviction of entire households in which any illegal weapon is found, or of those who don't pay rent (which never used to happen comparatively). There are also an increasing (as always) numbers of abandoned units appearing in SF's non-rebuilt projects, because the SFHA apparently would rather board-up most damaged/vacant units than fix them up for new residents, probably through some combination of not enough funds and anticipation of future demolition/redevelopment.

[Thundertubs]

Kansas

Wichita
2000: 344,284
2010: 382,368 +11.1%

Overland Park (KC suburb)
2000: 149,080
2010: 173,372 +16.3%

Kansas City
2000: 146,866
2010: 145,786 -0.7%

Topeka
2000: 122,377
2010: 127,473 +4.2%

Olathe (KC suburb)
2000: 92,962
2010: 125,872 +35.4%

Lawrence
2000: 80,098
2010: 87,643 +9.4%

Topeka Capital-Journal article

[ChiSoxRox]

The release

Data for Wyoming show that the five most populous incorporated places and their 2010 Census counts are Cheyenne, 59,466; Casper, 55,316; Laramie, 30,816; Gillette, 29,087; and Rock Springs, 23,036. Cheyenne grew by 12.2 percent since the 2000 Census. Casper grew by 11.4 percent, Laramie grew by 13.3 percent, Gillette grew by 48.1 percent, and Rock Springs grew by 23.1 percent.

Originally Posted by Thundertubs

Kansas

Wichita
2000: 344,284
2010: 382,368 +11.1%

Overland Park (KC suburb)
2000: 149,080
2010: 173,372 +16.3%

Kansas City
2000: 146,866
2010: 145,786 -0.7%

Topeka
2000: 122,377
2010: 127,473 +4.2%

Olathe (KC suburb)
2000: 92,962
2010: 125,872 +35.4%

Lawrence
2000: 80,098
2010: 87,643 +9.4%

Topeka Capital-Journal article

With that growth rate, Olathe could very well be larger than Kansas City, KS come 2020, and has probably passed Topeka for fourth place.

[ChiSoxRox]

Chicago city, IL: 2,695,598 (-200,418)
Houston city, TX: 2,099,451 (+145,820)
San Antonio city, TX: 1,327,407 (+182,761)
Dallas city, TX: 1,197,816 (+9,236)
Indianapolis city, IN: 829,718 (+37,792)
Austin city, TX: 790,390 (+133,828)
Fort Worth city, TX: 741,206 (+206,512)
Charlotte city, NC: 731,424 (+190,596)
El Paso city, TX: 649,121 (+85,459)
Baltimore city, MD: 620,961 (-30,193)
Seattle city, WA: 608,660 (+45,286)
Washington D.C.: 601,723 (+29,664)
Denver city, CO: 600,158 (+45,522)
Portland city, OR: 583,776 (+54,655)
Las Vegas city, NV: 583,756 (+105,322)
Oklahoma City city, OK: 579,999 (+73,867)
Kansas City city, MO: 459,787 (+18,242)
Virginia Beach city, VA: 437,994 (+12,737)
Colorado Springs city, CO: 416,427 (+55,537)
Omaha city, NE: 408,958 (+18,951)
Raleigh city, NC: 403,892 (+127,799)
Tulsa city, OK: 391,906 (-1,143)
Honolulu CDP (incl. East Honolulu) 387,170 (+15,513)
Wichita city, KS: 382,368 (+38,084)
Arlington city, TX: 365,438 (+32,469)
New Orleans city, LA: 343,829 (-140,845)
Aurora city, CO: 325,078 (+48,685)
St. Louis city, MO: 319,294 (-28,895)
Corpus Christi city, TX: 305,215 (+27,761)
Newark city, NJ: 277,140 (+3,594)
Greensboro city, NC: 269,666 (+45,775)
Plano city, TX: 259,841 (+37,811)
Lincoln city, NE: 258,379 (+32,798)
Henderson city, NV: 257,729 (+82,348)
Fort Wayne city, IN: 253,691 (+47,964)
Jersey City city, NJ: 247,597 (+7,542)
Norfolk city, VA: 242,803 (+8,400)
Laredo city, TX: 236,091 (+59,515)
Winston-Salem city, NC: 229,617 (+43,841)
Lubbock city, TX: 229,573 (+30,009)
Baton Rouge city, LA: 229,493 (+1,675)
Durham city, NC: 228,330 (+41,295)
Garland city, TX: 226,876 (+11,108)
Reno city, NV: 225,221 (+44,741)
Chesapeake city, VA: 222,209 (+23,025)
North Las Vegas city, NV: 216,961 (+101,473)
Irving city, TX: 216,290 (+24,675)
Birmingham city, AL: 212,237 (-30,583)
Spokane city, WA: 208,916 (+13,287)
Montgomery city, AL: 205,764 (+4,196)
Richmond city, VA: 204,214 (+6,424)
Des Moines city, IA: 203,433 (+4,751)
Fayetteville city, NC: 200,564 (+79,549)
Shreveport city, LA: 199,311 (-834)
Tacoma city, WA: 198,397 (+4,841)
Aurora city, IL: 197,899 (+54,909)
Mobile city, AL: 195,111 (-3,804)
Little Rock city, AR: 193,524 (+10,391)
Amarillo city, TX: 190,695 (+17,068)
Salt Lake City city, UT: 186,440 (+4,697)
Newport News city, VA: 180,719 (+569)
Huntsville city, AL: 180,105 (+21,889)
Grand Prairie city, TX: 175,396 (+47,969)
Brownsville city, TX: 175,023 (+35,301)
Jackson city, MS: 173,514 (-10,742)
Overland Park city, KS: 173,372 (+24,292)
Vancouver city, WA: 161,791 (+18,231)
Springfield city, MO: 159,498 (+7,918)
Eugene city, OR: 156,185 (+18,292)
Salem city, OR: 154,637 (+17,713)
Sioux Falls city, SD: 153,888 (+29,913)
Rockford city, IL: 152,871 (+2,756)
Pasadena city, TX: 149,043 (+7,369)
Joliet city, IL: 147,433 (+41,212)
Paterson city, NJ: 146,199 (-3,023)
Kansas City city, KS: 145,786 (-1,080)
Fort Collins city, CO: 143,986 (+25,334)
Lakewood city, CO: 142,980 (-1,146)
Naperville city, IL: 141,853 (+13,495)
Alexandria city, VA: 139,966 (+11,683)
Mesquite city, TX: 139,824 (+15,301)
Hampton city, VA: 137,436 (-9,001)
Cary town, NC: 135,234 (+40,698)
McKinney city, TX: 131,117 (+76,748)
McAllen city, TX: 129,877 (+23,463)
West Valley City city, UT: 129,480 (+20,584)
Killeen city, TX: 127,921 (+41,010)
Topeka city, KS: 127,473 (+5,096)
Cedar Rapids city, IA: 126,326 (+5,568)
Olathe city, KS: 125,872 (+32,910)
Elizabeth city, NJ: 124,969 (+4,401)
Waco city, TX: 124,805 (+11,079)
Bellevue city, WA: 122,363 (+12,794)
Lafayette city, LA: 120,623 (+10,366)
Carrollton city, TX: 119,097 (+9,521)
Thornton city, CO: 118,772 (+36,388)
Beaumont city, TX: 118,296 (+4,430)
Evansville city, IN: 117,429 (-4,153)
Abilene city, TX: 117,063 (+1,133)
Independence city, MO: 116,830 (+3,542)
Springfield city, IL: 116,250 (+4,796)
Peoria city, IL: 115,007 (+2,071)
Denton city, TX: 113,383 (+32,846)
Provo city, UT: 112,488 (+7,322)
Midland city, TX: 111,147 (+16,151)
Norman city, OK: 110,925 (+15,231)
Columbia city, MO: 108,500 (+23,969)
Elgin city, IL: 108,188 (+13,701)
Pueblo city, CO: 106,595 (+4,474)
Wilmington city, NC: 106,476 (+30,638)
Arvada city, CO: 106,433 (+4,280)
Westminster city, CO: 106,114 (+5,174)
Gresham city, OR: 105,594 (+15,389)
Wichita Falls city, TX: 104,553 (+356)
High Point city, NC: 104,371 (+18,532)
West Jordan city, UT: 103,712 (+35,376)
Everett city, WA: 103,019 (+11,531)
South Bend city, IN: 101,168 (-6,621)
Centennial city, CO: 100,377 (n/a)

This list will explode when California comes out.