[tredici]

So I was bored today, very bored... I got back from Birmingham late late late last night so today has been a real drag. I've gotten to thinking, and like most of us, we tend to fantasize about our cities becoming enormous urban areas with amazing infrastructure and business transactions.

So, I pose the question, which regions would you predict to become highly populated and dense conurbations? What would you name it?

One area that I look at that is becoming more and more and more densely populated is the area that would, roughly, be found inside a border that could be draw from Huntsville, Decatur, Jasper, Tuscaloosa, Clanton, Talladega, Anniston, Gadsden, Fort Payne, Scottsboro, then back to Huntsville. While I can't see that ENTIRE area becoming urbanized, I think it's safe to say that eventually we could see a population belt developing in certain areas.

So, what does everyone else think about these situations?

[DallasTexan]

Florida's urban areas are steadily growing up I-95 -- heading northward from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, West Palm, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and onto Melbourne, Cocoa, Daytona, and Jacksonville.

What can I say? People love it here :)

Edit: hmm, what to call it? The Pan-Floridian Coast?

[Electrical Porpoise]

Gulfport to Pensacola.

Ill call it, "Mobile MSA." Novel idea, huh?

[Dyingyak]

Considering the mentality and expectations of the population across our state, I think it's safe to assume we'll never have an overly desnse area as large as you have described.

I feel we'll start to see pockets of increased populations in the area you described, especially if we can ever find a way to improve our transportation network.

[Evan]

So I was bored today, very bored... I got back from Birmingham late late late last night so today has been a real drag. I've gotten to thinking, and like most of us, we tend to fantasize about our cities becoming enormous urban areas with amazing infrastructure and business transactions.

So, I pose the question, which regions would you predict to become highly populated and dense conurbations? What would you name it?

One area that I look at that is becoming more and more and more densely populated is the area that would, roughly, be found inside a border that could be draw from Huntsville, Decatur, Jasper, Tuscaloosa, Clanton, Talladega, Anniston, Gadsden, Fort Payne, Scottsboro, then back to Huntsville. While I can't see that ENTIRE area becoming urbanized, I think it's safe to say that eventually we could see a population belt developing in certain areas.

So, what does everyone else think about these situations?

If we don't stop hemorrhaging population and jobs so that more and more people have to commute to Birmingham to find even the worst of jobs, I can see Etowah County becoming a part of the Birmingham metro easily within my lifetime. Possibly even within the next decade.

I don't know where to find the traffic commuting patterns, but the last I heard, a significant number of people from this county were driving down there to work everyday. I just don't remember what that "significant number" was. :( Honda helped changed that pattern a bit, but not enough to really matter. I could see the same thing happening with Calhoun County also. Like Etowah, there isn't a shit bit of much going on there either.

[Brown Duckz]

The area encompassing Montgomery, Prattville, Deatsville, Wetumpka, Eclectic, Dadeville & everything on the southside of Lake Martin, Tallassee, Auburn, back through Macon County southwest towards the Pike Road area & all of the surrounding southeastern MGM metro towns. Heavy growth in all these townships, it's a matter of time before stuff starts trickling together like the southside of Jefferson County. The MGM interstate loop would only speed up the process.

[Bogue]

The speed with which white folk move out 280 would lead you to expect Montgomery & B'ham to merge at some point. Eventually this group will end up in Miami sometime around 2100. ;)

"Gulfport to Pensacola."

It's already got several names. The Greater Gulf State, Gulfland, Third Coast, & West Florida being some of those used at one point or another. West Florida is probably the most historically accurate. There are already well over 2 million people in that fairly thin 100 or so mile stretch along I-10.

Ones that are fully within the state, though? I think the Pleasure Island area could be fun to watch. Foley/Gulf Shores/Orange Beach... etc. are all growing at a fairly fast clip (even now) and while they'll eventually get merged w/ either Mobile or P-cola they're still sort of their own man right now & doing well as such. That area's not far off 100K on its own if I remember my count right. Think they're sitting around 75-80K right now. You would expect them to add in places like Robertsdale & Summerdale (and whatever other towns crop up in that part of Baldwin County... seems there's a new one every other year here lately).