Just before the Fourth of July weekend, the U.S. Census bureau released the latest population estimates for cities and towns in America. The fastest growth rate of any town last year was in New Orleans at 8.2 percent (annual). Evidence that the residents are returning home even if the recovery is going much slower than anyone anticipated.
Out of the 25 cities and towns with the top growth rates last year, every single one of them was in the South and West. Not a single suburb or city in the Midwest or the Northeast made it into this elite group, although two of the jurisdictions are suburbs of Washington DC in Northern Virginia. Seven of the 25 fastest-growing towns are in Texas, four in North Carolina, and three each in California and Colorado. The major hot spots that Americans are moving to: Denver, Las Vegas, Forth Worth metro areas and the "Research Triangle" region around the major universities in North Carolina. And Northern Virginia, as mentioned.
Interesting. I don't think of Denver as the sunbelt, even though they do have a lot of sun. It seems too far north.
Posted by: Rich DuBose | July 18, 2009 at 08:55 AM
Rich, the "sunbelt" as defined by geographers and demographers is both south and west. You start with the old Mason-Dixon Line and then extend it roughly due west to include the lower Midwest and the Southwest. The "northeast" refers generally to the states north of the old Mason-Dixon and the upper Midwest. The "northwest" is more clearly defined. Those are generally considered to be the three major regions of America today in terms of social and economic ties, systems, politics, etc.
Posted by: Monte Sahlin | July 18, 2009 at 10:17 AM