- "Joining Florida in having at least 10 counties among the 100 fastest-growing were Georgia and Texas (12 each) and Virginia (10)."
- "California and Texas each had three counties among the top-10 numerical gainers. Only one county on this list — Will, Ill., near Chicago — was located outside the South or West."
- "Of the 100 most populous counties in 2004, 32 were located in the South, 27 in the Northeast, 25 in the West and 16 in the Midwest."
i live in 1 of those places. =)
Three of the Texas counties are part of the Dallas metropolitan area. I hate to hear this.
And Kulongowski needs to know that property taxes in Oregon are keeping business and people away. This is maddening!
Only people in Maine consider Calvert County, MD to be in the South. Only people in Europe consider to be in the West.
Please be advised that Cobb County, GA is closed. Thank-You. Move along.
The answer is simple. Take my home of Union County, NC, #21 on the list. Exurban Charlotte, growing rapidly because of spillover from Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) and people moving in from other states -- mostly "blue states," with New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, according to my unscientific neighborhood sampling, high on the list. All those blue-staters talk funny; they root for the Steelers and Syracuse in our sports bars; and they're more prone to have bagels than biscuits, or hash browns than grits, with their breakfast. But guess what? They're mostly conservative Republicans. You see, we're not getting a cross-section of folks from NY, PA, and NJ moving here. Generally speaking, we're getting corporate transfers, investors in local industries, and entrepreneurs. The group of northerners moving here is therefore skewed to the more intelligent, the higher income, and the more motivated. To put it a bit brutally, those who can leave New Jersey do leave New Jersey.
The local political implications are staggering. In the 1970s, Union County was mostly rural, and solidly Democratic. Today, it's mostly exurban, and solidly Republican -- including all County Commissioners, the Sheriff, State House and Senate members, and the two Members of Congress representing Union County plus others.
In 1980, Jimmy Carter carried Union County, 10,073 (51.2%) to Reagan's 9,012 (45.8%), even though President Reagan carried North Carolina. In 2004, President Bush annihilated Kerry in Union County, 42,820 (70.2%) to 17,974 (29.5%). Focus not only on the percentages, but the growth in the raw numbers over just 24 years. In 2004, President Bush's plurality in Union County -- nearly 25,000 -- was substantially greater than the total vote in 1980. Two things are at work here: "Bubba" has become Republican in the last three or four decades -- first at the top of the ballot (Nixon and Reagan), then at the Senate level (Jesse Helms), and more recently all the way down the ballot; combine the GOP move by the natives with the GOP transplants, and it becomes clear why so many Southern and heartland exurban counties are becoming the Republican Party's biggest assets.
L.O.L....all due to illegal immigration I bet?
How horrible for the people already living in those places.
Of course not one from New York..
I would like to see the opposite list.
Fastest shrinking counties. I wonder if Erie County NY would be first.
We lost over 14,000 between 2000 and 04..
bump
Of course not one from New York..
I would like to see the opposite list.
Fastest shrinking counties. I wonder if Erie County NY would be first.
We lost over 14,000 between 2000 and 04..
Below is an interesting FR thread, re how GW carried 97 of these 100 fast growing areas. What makes it even more interesting is the LA Slimes published this story. The rats are saying that this is just little blip and has no signicance. They are wrong as usual:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1285972/posts
GOP Plants Flag on New Voting Frontier
Los Angeles Times ^ | November 22, 2004 | Ronald Brownstein and Richard Rainey, Times Staff Writers
Posted on 11/22/2004 9:23:16 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Bush's huge victory in the fast-growing areas beyond the suburbs alters the political map.
WASHINGTON — The center of the Republican presidential coalition is moving toward the distant edges of suburbia.
In this month's election, President Bush carried 97 of the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties, most of them "exurban" communities that are rapidly transforming farmland into subdivisions and shopping malls on the periphery of major metropolitan areas.
Together, these fast-growing communities provided Bush a punishing 1.72 million vote advantage over Democrat John F. Kerry, according to a Times analysis of election results. That was almost half the president's total margin of victory.
"These exurban counties are the new Republican areas, and they will become increasingly important to Republican candidates," said Terry Nelson, the political director for Bush's reelection campaign. "This is where a lot of our vote is."
These growing areas, filled largely with younger families fleeing urban centers in search of affordable homes, are providing the GOP a foothold in blue Democratic-leaning states and solidifying the party's control over red Republican-leaning states.
They also represent a compounding asset whose value for the Republican Party has increased with each election: Bush's edge in these 100 counties was almost four times greater than the advantage they provided Bob Dole, the Republican presidential nominee eight years ago.
In states like Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia, Republican strength in these outer suburbs is offsetting Democratic gains over the last decade in more established — and often more affluent — inner-tier suburbs. As Democrats analyze a demoralizing defeat in this month's presidential election, one key question they face is whether they can reduce the expanding Republican advantage on the new frontier between suburbs and countryside.
"When any party is losing a growing group of voters, that's a problem —"
bookmark
Suffolk Va. and Currituck Co. NC are listed because of everyone fleeing Norfolk and Portsmouth. Soon, I expect Southampton County to be on the list. The property assestment has soared on my home in Va. Beach, and my family and I are selling and moving to Hertford Co. NC at the end of next month. I refuse to continue to pay out more in taxes to Va. Beach while getting nothing in return (such as more police) while the city council throws money around to all their developer friends for stupid projects.
Unfortunately, the high cost of housing being what it is, young families HAVE to move out to Exurbia.
That's somewhat akin to bragging about the fastest growing tumor.
We're moving to Mojave County, AZ in a few months!!!!