Fastest Growing U.S. Metros: Atlanta tops all

[tdawg]

Atlanta growth tops in nation

By BRIAN FEAGANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/05/07
When Detroit accountant David Gibson married a Midtown Atlanta legal secretary a couple of years ago, his bride began preparing for a move to the Motor City.

Then it snowed.

"She changed her mind," Gibson said Wednesday, pumping his fist up and down at a Subway restaurant in Gwinnett County. "I was like, 'Yes' "

Gibson, 46, wasn't the only one who said "yes" to Atlanta.

No other metro area in the country added more residents — roughly 890,000 — between 2000 to 2006, according to U.S. Census Bureau city rankings released today. Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and Riverside, Calif., rounded out the top five.

Atlanta's surge has pushed the area above the 5 million-person mark, the census reported last month, to an estimated 5,138,000 in July 2006. That has led to less desirable No. 1 rankings — in average commute time increases, for example. But the region's continued magnetism speaks to its resilience in the face of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and dot-com industry woes, forces that since 2000 have crippled growth in many other cities.

"I think there was some talk a couple years ago that the bloom was off the rose in metro Atlanta," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "I think these numbers show that's not true."

Atlanta is now the clear leader in a national population shift toward the South and Sunbelt, Frey said. Many newcomers to the 28 counties of metro Atlanta have arrived from old economy cities around the Great Lakes. Others are fleeing the expensive housing bubbles of the Northeast in favor of Atlanta's comparatively cheap houses, Frey said.

As a result, since 2000, metro Atlanta has vaulted to No. 9 nationally in total population, passing Boston and Detroit.

Even New York, the nation's most populous metro area at 18.8 million, has mustered only half the increase that Atlanta has this decade.

The growth has challenged school systems and transportation officials to keep up, said Mike Alexander, chief of the research division at the Atlanta Regional Commission planning agency. Trailer classrooms and traffic jams are a daily reality in many parts of the region.

But the good news, Alexander said, is that people have had enough confidence to move here despite slower job growth than in the late 1990s. And now there are signs that employment is catching up, he said, with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recovered from the post-Sept. 11 slump and Delta Air Lines expected to emerge from bankruptcy this spring. "We've honestly already taken our hit on the tech sector," he said.

While roughly a third of metro Atlanta's growth came in the form of births, newcomers from outside the region drove most of the increase, the census figures revealed.

Soo Kwon of Duluth said she and her husband spent a decade in Chicago before moving to Atlanta last year in search of investment opportunities in the region's growing Korean community. Now Kwon, 36, is working as a clerk at Maum, an upscale cafe near Doraville filled with Midwestern transplants. Her husband works in commercial real estate.

Kwon recalled hearing about Atlanta's fabulous weather from friends who moved here four years earlier. Chicago, she said, was simply too cold.

Chalk up another one to the snow.

[sentinel]

^^^ Sigh, whenever I hear about people leaving places like Chicago because of the cold weather (which is probably that way for only a good 1/4 of the calender year) it just breaks my heart because you leave something good, a great place to live, with so much to do, so much culture, so many missed opportunities simply because you were too lazy to put on a sweater. Not that there is anything wrong with any other city and not that Chicago/Chicagoland is losing people (400,000+ people is still a fairly big gain), it's just that the "weather card" is a pretty lame excuse. Why are so many other cities around the world which also have large seasonal temperature variances still thriving and gaining people? Paris, Moscow, London, Beijing, etc, etc, etc...
Somehow, I think (specifically) the weather claim is pretty dubious; I think a lot of it is solely about money and the (supposed) value one gets from newer, developing areas as compared to living in a dense, urban core area; it's still a pervasive myth in this country, coupled with the still-pervasive frontier mentality that a lot of people have as well, yet now it seems that the new American "frontier" is the exurb, which probably accounts for a lot of the Metropolitan growth which is being touted in articles like this.

[Crawford]

I can't say I'm happy about this but migration patterns will eventually change. The South moved North for a few decades, now the North is moving South for a few decades. For all we know, Detroit will be America's boomtown in 2030.

I also don't understand the weather argument. Sure, I'd move to South Florida if I wanted subtropical weather and I'd move to the West Coast if I wanted a temperate climate, but ATL weather is no better than up north. Winters are still quite cold, except when the north has 20F ATL has 30F. Summers are very hot and humid. Bascally ATL has slightly warmer winters and summers.

Dallas makes even less sense. Summers in Dallas are insanely hot. People really move to Dallas for the great weather?

[TexasBoi]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Dallas makes even less sense. Summers in Dallas are insanely hot. People really move to Dallas for the great weather?

Probably because many people can deal with the hot weather better than they can with the cold weather. I know a person born and raised in Chicago that wanted to move to Dallas and I kept telling her than the summers can be brutal. She didn't care saying she can deal with 95 degree temperature and now 5 degree temperature anymore.

At least Dallas is dry heat, though. Houston is really bad because it's very humid. But the winters are one of the best in the nation.

[shanthemanatl]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I can't say I'm happy about this but migration patterns will eventually change. The South moved North for a few decades, now the North is moving South for a few decades. For all we know, Detroit will be America's boomtown in 2030.

I also don't understand the weather argument. Sure, I'd move to South Florida if I wanted subtropical weather and I'd move to the West Coast if I wanted a temperate climate, but ATL weather is no better than up north. Winters are still quite cold, except when the north has 20F ATL has 30F. Summers are very hot and humid. Bascally ATL has slightly warmer winters and summers.

Dallas makes even less sense. Summers in Dallas are insanely hot. People really move to Dallas for the great weather?

As someone who has lived in Atlanta for 8 years now, I can tell you that the winters here are nothing like they are up north!

The average high temp in Atlanta at the end of January is 51 degrees, and the average low is 34. Snow and/or ice is extremely uncommon, and it's not unusual to have occasional days in the 60s and 70s, even in January. Spring and Fall are absolutely stunning, and Summer is not as hot and humid as many people believe. Yes, July and August can get a bit sticky, but Atlanta's average high in mid-July is only 88 degrees.

[trvlr70]

As our econmy keeps becoming more and more service oriented and more and more work can be done from a laptop in your bedroom, I think people will continually move to more favorable climates. Especially ones without threat of hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, etc..

Ex., Atlanta.

[Plasticman]

Originally Posted by shanthemanatl

As someone who has lived in Atlanta for 8 years now, I can tell you that the winters here are nothing like they are up north!

The average high temp in Atlanta at the end of January is 51 degrees, and the average low is 34. Snow and/or ice is extremely uncommon, and it's not unusual to have occasional days in the 60s and 70s, even in January. Spring and Fall are absolutely stunning, and Summer is not as hot and humid as many people believe. Yes, July and August can get a bit sticky, but Atlanta's average high in mid-July is only 88 degrees.

As someone who has lived in the Atlanta area for 24 years having moved from both Northern Kentucky and Tennessee, I can agree with most of your points but your eight years here aren't representative of normal.

Snow and ice is not even slightly uncommon in North Georgia. Only in the last four years have we went through one of the normal cycles of very little snow, warmer temps. The very first few winters I lived here we had several nice snowfalls and some very, very cold weather. Winter of 83 our pipes burst while we were visiting out of state. What a mess. Just five years ago, we had a major ice storm knocking out our power for 36 hours. In 93, we had a blizzard that dumped over two feet of snow on areas from Rome northward.

To counter that, I've seen some excessively hot summers and yet two Summers ago we only broke 90 degrees four or five times. So it has its ebbs and flows.

So to say our weather is nothing like the north is true but only to a point. We do receive similar weather but it doesn't last near as long and is much less often.

[shanthemanatl]

Originally Posted by Plasticman

As someone who has lived in the Atlanta area for 24 years having moved from both Northern Kentucky and Tennessee, I can agree with most of your points but your eight years here aren't representative of normal.

Snow and ice is not even slightly uncommon in North Georgia. Only in the last four years have we went through one of the normal cycles of very little snow, warmer temps. The very first few winters I lived here we had several nice snowfalls and some very, very cold weather. Winter of 83 our pipes burst while we were visiting out of state. What a mess. Just five years ago, we had a major ice storm knocking out our power for 36 hours. In 93, we had a blizzard that dumped over two feet of snow on areas from Rome northward.

To counter that, I've seen some excessively hot summers and yet two Summers ago we only broke 90 degrees four or five times. So it has its ebbs and flows.

So to say our weather is nothing like the north is true but only to a point. We do receive similar weather but it doesn't last near as long and is much less often.

Well, I think I said our winter weather is nothing like it is up north, actually, but your points are well-taken.

I certainly wasn't implying that we never get "northern"-like winter weather here in Atlanta, and areas just an hour north of town seem to encounter snow/ice more frequently than those of us who live in the city.

But even if Atlanta averaged one "nice" snowfall or pipe-bursting cold snap a year, it would pale in comparision to what I experienced in Allentown, PA!

[ginsan2]

Originally Posted by sentinel

^^^ Sigh, whenever I hear about people leaving places like Chicago because of the cold weather (which is probably that way for only a good 1/4 of the calender year) it just breaks my heart because you leave something good, a great place to live, with so much to do, so much culture, so many missed opportunities simply because you were too lazy to put on a sweater. Not that there is anything wrong with any other city and not that Chicago/Chicagoland is losing people (400,000+ people is still a fairly big gain), it's just that the "weather card" is a pretty lame excuse. Why are so many other cities around the world which also have large seasonal temperature variances still thriving and gaining people? Paris, Moscow, London, Beijing, etc, etc, etc...
Somehow, I think (specifically) the weather claim is pretty dubious; I think a lot of it is solely about money and the (supposed) value one gets from newer, developing areas as compared to living in a dense, urban core area; it's still a pervasive myth in this country, coupled with the still-pervasive frontier mentality that a lot of people have as well, yet now it seems that the new American "frontier" is the exurb, which probably accounts for a lot of the Metropolitan growth which is being touted in articles like this.

Well, to be honest, and fair... Paris, London and Beijing are not as cold as Chicago. They actually have warm autumns, extended summers and winters that see an end in February... Moscow is obviously the exception
I know it's painful to think, but Chicago simply is too cold. Summer is too short, winter too long, and there's no real spring/autumn. I'm fine with this, because I thrive in cold/dry weather, but I understand why most people say "no thank you" to it.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by ginsan2

Well, to be honest, and fair... Paris, London and Beijing are not as cold as Chicago. They actually have warm autumns, extended summers and winters that see an end in February... Moscow is obviously the exception
I know it's painful to think, but Chicago simply is too cold. Summer is too short, winter too long, and there's no real spring/autumn. I'm fine with this, because I thrive in cold/dry weather, but I understand why most people say "no thank you" to it.

Really? What about everyone who lives in Canada? They don't seem to mind. Not that they have a Florida, either.

[Mr Roboto]

I dont know, winter in chicago and places up north can totally suck while you are in it. But once its over, you notice that it wasn't so bad. And I hate cold weather more than most, I spent a lot of my time growing up in a tropical country.

Moving just for the weather is a lame excuse imo, there have to be other factors involved. I always joke with my fiance that we should move to Miami or something when it starts getting cold, but I know we probably aren't ever going to leave chicago. We like this city too much to let the cold weather affect us like that.

[TexasBoi]

lol. I love cold weather though. Hell my fam said they would not visit me in the DC area because it gets too cold. They are from Florida, though.

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by Mr Roboto

I dont know, winter in chicago and places up north can totally suck while you are in it. But once its over, you notice that it wasn't so bad. And I hate cold weather more than most, I spent a lot of my time growing up in a tropical country.

Moving just for the weather is a lame excuse imo, there have to be other factors involved. I always joke with my fiance that we should move to Miami or something when it starts getting cold, but I know we probably aren't ever going to leave chicago. We like this city too much to let the cold weather affect us like that.

I find it hysterical that people equate snow storms worse than living under the threat of hurricanes.(South Atlantic States..Florida...Gulf Coast) and tornados (how many times do you hears deaths from them in the south...as opposed to the north?). I've said it before and I'll say it again....people don't wind up in FEMA trailers after a Nor'easter. The snow falls...it gets plowed and shoveled...it melts...no harm...no foul. I'm sure people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast would have much rather dug out from a blizzard than have their towns wiped out by a hurricane.

BTW....it's easier to stay warm than it is to cool off.

I hope most SunBelt boosters don't think that this rapid growth will last forever. As has been the history of this country...things change and people find a new place to migrate to...to which at some point we'll come full circle and Detroit and Buffalo will be the "It" places to be....

[BnaBreaker]

Originally Posted by PhillyNation

BTW....it's easier to stay warm than it is to cool off.

Exactly. You can be naked and still be hot as a crotch. lol

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Exactly. You can be naked and still be hot as a crotch. lol

I loathe the hot weather. That week I spent in Houston during August 2000 was the most miserable summer weather I ever experienced. I'd rather deal with the snow.

[Shasta]

Originally Posted by PhillyNation

I loathe the hot weather. That week I spent in Houston during August 2000 was the most miserable summer weather I ever experienced. I'd rather deal with the snow.

Ah yes, comparing a week in Houston with an entire season in the North.

I love living in Boston. I would miss the change of seasons if I ever moved back to Houston but I would take the Houston weather hands down over Boston.

For example, we had wet snow yesterday in Boston. Today I woke up to sub freezing temps and a steady wind. NOTHING is in bloom much less even budding. It's April and the city is dirty. The streets are littered with salt from the roads, pet-friendly de-icing goo from the stoops, dog crap from lazy pet owners who seemingly think cleaning up after their dog doesn't apply in the winter months, trash blowing in the wind, and pretty much all plant life is still 100% dead.

I just got back from Houston. It was sunny and 75 when I left. The azeleas were in full bloom and the city was alive. I played tennis at Memorial Park, walked with my sister through Hermann Park with her dogs, and ate numerous times at outdoor venues.

In Boston, we have to wait until May for Spring to come and sometimes it takes until June to really warm up. It is depressing and it does make it hard to get through the cold season (which is much longer than just winter).

Now, as for staying cool in Houston; buy a house in the city with a private pool. I could sell my small condo here in Boston and buy a house in Houston near Montrose (totally walkable) with a small pool and still put over HALF of the money gained from the sale in Boston into a savings account.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Exactly. You can be naked and still be hot as a crotch. lol

LOL. But anyway, heat stroke is no joke. I have had 2, and they kind of hits you fast...you dont know how much danger you are in until its too late.
When its freezing, you body goes numb and skin becomes painful and changes different colors, you know you are in deep shit and go inside or put on more layers.
Cold weather takes longer to kill you than heat does, easily. You really have to be brain dead one day or in a awful, unfortunate situation to freeze to death.

Drink your water people...I was fortunate to realize it enough to get to the hospital but that was only because I had one a few years earlier. It takes weeks to recover from a heat stroke to do physical activity. At least for me.
Really hot, humid weather makes me nervous because of the heat strokes. It can hit you so fast.

[shanthemanatl]

Originally Posted by PhillyNation

I find it hysterical that people equate snow storms worse than living under the threat of hurricanes.(South Atlantic States..Florida...Gulf Coast) and tornados (how many times do you hears deaths from them in the south...as opposed to the north?). I've said it before and I'll say it again....people don't wind up in FEMA trailers after a Nor'easter. The snow falls...it gets plowed and shoveled...it melts...no harm...no foul. I'm sure people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast would have much rather dug out from a blizzard than have their towns wiped out by a hurricane.

BTW....it's easier to stay warm than it is to cool off.

I hope most SunBelt boosters don't think that this rapid growth will last forever. As has been the history of this country...things change and people find a new place to migrate to...to which at some point we'll come full circle and Detroit and Buffalo will be the "It" places to be....

You also don't hear about 500 people dying in the South during a heat wave, unlike what happened in Chicago several years back.

And I don't know what you consider to be "the North", but tornadoes are just as prevalent north of the Ohio River as they are south of it.

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by shanthemanatl

You also don't hear about 500 people dying in the South during a heat wave, unlike what happened in Chicago several years back.

And I don't know what you consider to be "the North", but tornadoes are just as prevalent north of the Ohio River as they are south of it.

I know...I know...Atlanta is perfect....

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by PhillyNation

BTW....it's easier to stay warm than it is to cool off.

Amen! You can always put on more clothes, but there's a limit to what you can take off, and sometimes even that's not enough.