Census Bureau Releases July 1 '06 County Pop. Estimates

[WonderlandPark]

Los Angeles still barely below 10,000,000
finally the OC topped 3 million
Riverside topped 2 million
San Bernardino just barely below 2 million
Ventura just a hair away from 800K

So the REAL LA metro is in the ballpark of 17.8 million (no bs about cutting an heavily urbanized area in half

[KevinFromTexas]

Travis County, (Austin is the seat), 921,006.

Austin metro counties estimate:

Travis: 921,006
Williamson: 353,830
Hays: 130,325
Bastrop: 71,684
Caldwell: 36,720

Austin Metro estimate: 1,513,565

[liat91]

Here's some of compiled areas of interest, accurate as I can get...
CSA's and MSA's
New York: 22,087,640
Los Angeles: 17,775,984
Chicago: 9,725,317
Wash/Balt: 8,468,832
Boston/Prov: 7,465,634
San Fran: 7,228,948 + Stockton = 7,920,118
Philadelphia: 6,382,714 (even after adding Berks, seems futile when Dallas is roaring along)
Dallas: 6,310,520
Houston: 5,641,077
Atlanta: 5,478,667
Miami: 5,463,857
Detroit: 5,410, 014
Phoenix: 4,039,182
Seattle: 3,876,211
Minneapolis: 3,502,891
San Diego: 2,941,454

[Fiorenza]

8 of the 100 fastest growing counties are in blue states?

[scguy]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Of all the Sunbelt boomers, Atlanta and environs is always the biggest mystery to me. Cities in Florida, Arizona, even Texas make sense (beach, warmth, golf, etc.). Atlanta is more of a head-scratcher. Inland location, far from ideal weather, high crime, crazy commutes, etc.

The two obvious draws would be 1. Easy to get a job and 2. Relatively cheap new homes in exurbs, except Atlanta does not appear to have lower unemployment rates or cheaper homes than from many of the regions from which it draws.

The strangest part of the Atlanta allure (and this extends to Charlotte) is the black mythology of these places as promised lands. Suddenly the North Carolina of Jesse Helms and the Georgia of Sonny Perdue are supposed meccas for progressive blacks (and Sonny's the governor RIGHT NOW and won basically for his support of the confederate flag).

I once heard a black secretary at my dad's office in suburban Detroit say she was moving from a nice middle-class Detroit suburb to the southern suburbs of Atlanta for the safety, schools and lack of congestion. There is absolutely no data to support the notion that suburban Atlanta would be a solid choice over suburban Detroit for safety, schools or congestion. If anything, there should be a flood in the opposite direction, from emerging ghettohoods in South DeKalb and South Fulton counties (Atlanta) to the Northeast and Midwest.

It's amazing how good PR can influence relocation decisions more than hard statistics.

As far as weather, what you hear mostly from the thousands of retiring baby boomers who are relocating to Georgia and the Carolinas is that Florida is too hot all the time and that the NE is too cold in the winter with snow and all. Atlanta has a little bit of each but it is relatively mild, (much milder than the NE).

[c4smok]

Between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, the 10-county Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area gained 187,380 residents, bringing the total to 5,539,949 - HBJ

Harris County, TX 3,886,207 3,762,844 +123,363


Houston MSA is now the 6th Largest in the US =)

[hoosier]

Indianapolis-Carmel MSA 2006

Marion County (Indianapolis)-865,504
Hamilton County (Carmel)- 250,979
Hendricks County-131,204
Johnson County- 133,316

Total-1,381,003

I left out some of the smaller counties, so the Indy MSA is well over 1.4 million.

[Attrill]

Crain's has an interesting article about the growth of counties outside Cook county, and some of the problems they are facing because of the growth.

"Yorkville’s mostly two-lane highways have become more congested and the school system more “strained,” and extending public services such as water to new subdivisions has been a “challenge,”"

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

I am forever shocked at just how slow South Central PA grows....population-wise that is. We all know it sprawls like the Dickens!

But yeah, regardless of all of the issues there, the location alone is why I am so confused as to why it isn't absolutely booming.

Are you kidding? The area is booming by Pennsylvania standards. Lancaster and York are especially growing very fast.

[dante2308]

Houston, Atlanta, and Miami all seem to have the same population basically. The Sunbelt is such a weird place.

Crawford, Atlanta's draw, by the way, isn't really about it's PR. It really makes an impression once you visit here especially if you are coming from one of the smaller Sun Belt cities, especially from Florida.

I moved to Atlanta from South Florida and it was like a breath of fresh air. The quality of life seemed so high and the people were so friendly. I think what drew me in the most was the can-do attitude.

Compared to Fort Lauderdale, it actually seemed like I had a reasonable chance at a good education and a well paying job. I really think some parts of South Florida need to realize that an economy based entirely on catering to tourists and 60 pluses doesn't pan out forever. Unfortunately I don't speak a word of Spanish so all the Latin American companies in the world really didn't do me any good either. All that seemed to happen was people getting priced out of their homes as the place ironically got shabbier and shabbier as new construction came to a screeching halt. I don't know what caused it but the people were cold as well.

Oh yes, many new condos started going up, but who could afford them that actually lived there? No one. The suburbs just keep wearing down and every time a hurricane hits, the landscaping becomes more depressing. Where the hell did they expect the next generation to work? That is why there is an exodus from Miami to Atlanta at least.

Detroit? No one likes living in a city no one wants to move to...

Climate? What could be better than four seasons and mild winters with a pray-this-is-the-year chance of snow.

Congestion? So? Show me a traffic jam in Atlanta and I'll show you ten reasons you didn't need to be in it and a hundred cities that have them too.

House prices? Here we go. Selling my 1,800 sq.ft. three bedroom piece of junk that ridiculously quadrupled in value in the span of twelve months got me a 5,500 sq. ft. five bedroom house near Atlanta (not exurbs, barely suburbs) with cash spare to burn. My new house came with friendly neighbors too. They lined up with pies and whatnot for godsakes. What the hell more could you ask for in a city anyway? Atlanta has any and everything really.

[Stratosphere 2020]

Originally Posted by atlantaguy

Believe it or not, the quality of life here is pretty damn good. The bad crime is in areas most people not involved in drugs would never venture to - just like every major city. The terrain is beautiful, the mountains are only an hour away, the beach is only 5 - 7 hours away, we have four distinct seasons, one of the greatest restaurant scenes in the country, major league sports, one of the best coaster parks in the country, jobs, etc.

People move here for many reasons. The cheap exurban housing market is not the only one.

In terms of geography, Atlanta has a dense mecca of tall trees, it has small lakes, and it is a city on rolling elevation (not flat). So that would make it attractive to settle in terms of geography compare to places like Miami where there are beaches for instance.

As an outsider, the reason why I find Atlanta attractive: is that it is an exciting place to live at this time with all the boom going on, lots and lots of tall tress, beautiful architecture (even that of new towers and high-rises going up), overall clean, entertainment scene, friendly, and it is overall affordable. For a recent college grad like myself, it feels like you are growing together with the city.

I do understand why many blacks would settle in the South, it is that cultural/ethnic and historic bond with that region. Atlanta is a place where many blacks dominate high positions in corporations. In addition, they are ceo's, directors and managers of their own companies or that of others. The best PR to attract black folks from the rest of the country to Atlanta, is to show them that in Atlanta they can make it and that there is more opportunity for them. And you got to give Atlanta credit that they have succeeded in doing just that.


I terms of politics, I view Atlanta as a liberal city in an overall conservative state. Atlanta is like an island in the sea that is Georgia. Still you can not ignore that there are many conservatives in the suburbs of Atlanta, but that the actual city of Atlanta has many liberals, an example of that is the gay scene in Midtown.

[Trae]

Atlanta is at 5.2M in the AJC article. Is the 5.4 estimate for its CSA?

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by Trae

Atlanta is at 5.2M in the AJC article. Is the 5.4 estimate for its CSA?

Trae..see the 1st post of this thread for Atlanta's 2006 MSA and CSA estimates...

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by liat91

Here's some of compiled areas of interest, accurate as I can get...
CSA's and MSA's
New York: 22,087,640
Los Angeles: 17,775,984
Chicago: 9,725,317
Wash/Balt: 8,468,832
Boston/Prov: 7,465,634
San Fran: 7,228,948 + Stockton = 7,920,118
Philadelphia: 6,382,714 (even after adding Berks, seems futile when Dallas is roaring along)
Dallas: 6,310,520
Houston: 5,539,949
Atlanta: 5,478,667
Miami: 5,463,857
Detroit: 5,410, 014
Phoenix: 4,039,182
Seattle: 3,876,211
Minneapolis: 3,502,891
San Diego: 2,941,454

Thanks for compiling those numbers, liat. Wow...the rise of Phoenix is just shocking...it's at 13 already! The bunching of Houston-Atlanta-Miami-Detroit is remarkable, with all four in the mid 5's. Houston and Atlanta are growing faster than Miami, though, and all three will soon leave Detroit far behind. The Atlanta CSA has finally broken into the top ten (it's MSA already had been there). Boston, with its new pairing with Providence, rightly takes its place back up near the top of the chart. The booming sunbelt metros, tho, Dallas-Houston-Atlanta-Miami-Phoenix, can't be denied, and they will continue to march up the charts in coming decades. New York and LA are entities unto themselves, clearly in a population class by themselves. That is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.

[john3eblover]

Originally Posted by SteveD

Thanks for compiling those numbers, liat. Wow...the rise of Phoenix is just shocking...it's at 13 already! The bunching of Houston-Atlanta-Miami-Detroit is remarkable, with all four in the mid 5's. Houston and Atlanta are growing faster than Miami, though, and all three will soon leave Detroit far behind. The Atlanta CSA has finally broken into the top ten (it's MSA already had been there). Boston, with its new pairing with Providence, rightly takes its place back up near the top of the chart. The booming sunbelt metros, tho, Dallas-Houston-Atlanta-Miami-Phoenix, can't be denied, and they will continue to march up the charts in coming decades. New York and LA are entities unto themselves, clearly in a population class by themselves. That is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.

Living in the middle of the Wash/Balt CSA, its really apparent how it would be hard to separate those two metros into distinct areas, and the same for anything in this area all the way up to NYC and beyond. I've driven all the way up I-95 plenty of times, and its just packed with cities and people all the way basically. Its crazy up here. Although Baltimore as a city feels very dense, urban, old, and real, its metro seems quite small in comparison to other large metros..

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by liat91

Here's some of compiled areas of interest, accurate as I can get...
CSA's and MSA's
New York: 22,087,640
Los Angeles: 17,775,984
Chicago: 9,725,317
Wash/Balt: 8,468,832
Boston/Prov: 7,465,634
San Fran: 7,228,948 + Stockton = 7,920,118
Philadelphia: 6,382,714 (even after adding Berks, seems futile when Dallas is roaring along)
Dallas: 6,310,520
Houston: 5,539,949
Atlanta: 5,478,667
Miami: 5,463,857
Detroit: 5,410, 014
Phoenix: 4,039,182
Seattle: 3,876,211
Minneapolis: 3,502,891
San Diego: 2,941,454

Liat..there's been some discussion in another thread comparing the populations of Miami, Atlanta, and Houston. The number you have in the list above for Houston is its 10-county MSA. It should read 5,641,077 for its 12-county CSA.

[liat91]

Originally Posted by SteveD

Liat..there's been some discussion in another thread comparing the populations of Miami, Atlanta, and Houston. The number you have in the list above for Houston is its 10-county MSA. It should read 5,641,077 for its 12-county CSA.

Thanks SteveD, I'll update that on my list.

[LMich]

Out of curiosity, which of the top 10 or 20 or so metros added counties? Also, can someone make a chart showing all of their physical sizes (i.e. square mileage) as of this year?

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by LMich

Out of curiosity, which is the top 10 or 20 or so metros added counties? Also, can someone make a chart showing all of their physical sizes (i.e. square mileage) as of this year?

Atlanta didn't add counties going from 2005 to 2006, but it did add counties going from the 1990 to the 2000 census. I shudder to give the number of counties, because people always freak out, but the Atlanta MSA has a whopping 28 counties, and the Atlanta CSA has a whopping 33 counties! Of course, Georgia's counties are tiny compared to most other states, and Georgia has the most counties of any state in the country, save Texas. Having said all that, though, there's no denying that both the Atlanta MSA and the CSA encompass enormous swaths of land. The CSA stretches one county over into Alabama on the west side, and is within one county of the Chattanooga, TN, Athens, GA, and Macon GA MSAs, on the north, east and south sides, respectively. I'd like to see a chart like you mention also. Atlanta's CSA is roughly the same size as the Dallas and Houston CSAs, something a lot of people don't realize. Atlanta is the monster that ate north Georgia.

[rds70]

Denver-Aurora-Boulder MSA = 2,691,054
Denver-Boulder-Greeley CSA = 2,927,911

Population Change 2000-2006:

Denver-Aurora-Boulder MSA = +241,917
Denver-Boulder-Greeley CSA = +297,943