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The East Coast is heavily populated. You have the Northeast. NYC, Boston, DC, Baltimore, and New Jersey have population centers at or on the ocean.
Then you have Florida with Jacksonville, Tampa, Daytona Beach and Miami.
What happened to Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina? Georgia and North Carolina are top ten in population, but these states have no huge coast cities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TarHeelNick
This video explains it pretty well. It actually just recently popped up on my feed a few days ago..
Good question. I also saw that video that TarHeel mentions on youtube recently.
The video makes a good point that the coastal ports of these states; Charleston, Savannah, Wilmington, Georgetown, etc. do not have the deep water harbors that the port cities have in the Northeast, which limited their growth.
Another reasons is that some of the low lying coastal areas are swampy or wetlands and vulnerable to storms.
For NC in particular, geography is the culprit. The outer coastal plain juts out into the Atlantic more than neighboring states which makes it more prone to hurricanes and associated flooding, and offshore shoals, bays, and sounds line much of its coast and are where most of its rivers empty into which does the state no favors in terms of developing large, successful ports. The rivers that don't flow into neighboring VA and SC and terminate at their coastlines.
For GA and SC, their port cities were historically tied to the "peculiar institution" and became more industrialized much later than their Northern counterparts. And they don't have coastal Florida's advantages as far as climate, beach quality/topography, and proximity to the Caribbean/Latin America go. Instead they were bestowed with the right mix of characteristics that historically made for unpleasant summers and deadly epidemics.
For NC in particular, geography is the culprit. The outer coastal plain juts out into the Atlantic more than neighboring states which makes it more prone to hurricanes and associated flooding, and offshore shoals, bays, and sounds line much of its coast and are where most of its rivers empty into which does the state no favors in terms of developing large, successful ports. The rivers that don't flow into neighboring VA and SC and terminate at their coastlines.
For GA and SC, their port cities were historically tied to the "peculiar institution" and became more industrialized much later than their Northern counterparts. And they don't have coastal Florida's advantages as far as climate, beach quality/topography, and proximity to the Caribbean/Latin America go. Instead they were bestowed with the right mix of characteristics that historically made for unpleasant summers and deadly epidemics.
All of which makes it pretty amazing that against all odds, Savannah has become the 4th largest container Port in the US.
I agree that the SC coast is not like the NC and GA coasts and should not even be compared to the other two. It is growing by leaps and bounds because every other person from up here is retiring in either Charleston or Myrtle Beach. SC government needs to put brakes on this runaway development because of the topography and hurricane risk.
Eventually, Mother Nature + insurance/reinsurance companies will regulate what the government is reluctant to regulate for fear of real estate developers. A lot of beautiful coastal property may get wasted in the process before it gets to that, and premiums for everyone with property left will of course increase in due course.
Eventually, Mother Nature + insurance/reinsurance companies will regulate what the government is reluctant to regulate for fear of real estate developers. A lot of beautiful coastal property may get wasted in the process before it gets to that, and premiums for everyone with property left will of course increase in due course.
Flooding is the biggest risk, far more-so than wind damage as major hurricanes typically fall apart at that latitude (the exception being the ones that are moving at a high rate of forward speed - like Hazel or Hugo). One would think you could engineer for flooding in local building codes by eliminating basements and requiring houses to be a certain number of feet off the ground - but the question is how far inland you expand those requirements.
Almost all houses in NC don’t have basements. We have poor soil, and there is less reason to bury piping several feet in the ground because of the cold like up north. Most places that do have them are towards the mountains.
The East Coast is heavily populated. You have the Northeast. NYC, Boston, DC, Baltimore, and New Jersey have population centers at or on the ocean.
Then you have Florida with Jacksonville, Tampa, Daytona Beach and Miami.
What happened to Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina? Georgia and North Carolina are top ten in population, but these states have no huge coast cities.
It's because these states already have biggest MSA/CSA are already on the Piedmont regions.
Atlanta-Athens CSA is 7 million
Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, CSA is 1.5 million
Charlotte-Concord CSA 2.8 million
Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, 1.7 million
Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA is 2.1 million
From Atlanta to Raleigh on the piedmont these CSA actually run into each other.
The Northeast has megalopolis on the coast, but Piedmont has it's megalopolis on the piedmont.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
Haven't watched, but SC's seems fairly populated relative to the state it's in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
Actually that video confused me if Columbia is being treated as part of the empty coast while Charlotte/Raleigh are part of the developed interior. But also like a fifth of SC’s population lives between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. Granted it’s not in a single large MSA with skyscrapers, but it definitely doesn’t feel empty. I think SC should be excused from this exercise.
That said, the correct answer is ports and economy.
In the video the guy is calling this area "empty East coast" but it's not, he even mention the area he's talking about is over 10 million. For example it's more populated then any area of the Midwest outside the great Lakes region. It's more populated then any area of the South not the Texas Triangle, piedmont and Florida. That's a very populated area. So he called it "relative empty" comparing to areas like Atlanta and Charlotte but that's flaw thinking.
He has a video of megalopolis but does not mention the piedmont area.... So he comparing a populated area of 10 million but comparing it the extreme of one of the most populated and develop area of the country which he's ignoring is megalopolis corridor to justify calling it "relative empty"
I think SC especially is being exploited here because it doesn't have a Metro over a million. but what people miss is that SC has 3 metros over 800,000. With
Greenville being 958,958 it's likely to hit a million by 2025-2026. It's CSA is already 1.5 million.
Charleston 830,529 is actually growing very fast it's like hit a million in early 2030.
Columbia 847,686, if rate continue it could hit a million by mid 2030s.
Another thing is Savanah and Hilton Head Island SG they are separate but if they joins CSA it would be 800k. With the way they are growing and Georgia and SC are working together expanding Hilton Head port. It's also something to keep watch of.
Last edited by chiatldal; 09-26-2023 at 07:08 PM..
All of which makes it pretty amazing that against all odds, Savannah has become the 4th largest container Port in the US.
That's what a symbiotic relationship with the Southeast's major centralized logistics/distribution/transportation hub will do for you.
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