Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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But the outlying areas, out in subdivision/connector road hell, is where all the traffic really is here.
Have you been here?
That's funny....I am trying to get out of Raleigh into the suburban subdivision to avoid all the traffic. I don't think Raleigh was built for all this traffic.
The gas prices may be the only thing to stop sprawl driven by greed.
Small towns just think growth is good. May be exactly the opposite.
Growth is usually a good thing for small towns, as it brings the town the revenue to improve things. Without the revenue, things tend to fall apart. They key is controlled growth.
Sprawl can be a negative thing, but will work as long as it is not just sprawling houses. The sprawl must contain shopping, dinining and employment in it's own area. This will reduce the traffic flow out from the sprawling area.
The Raleigh growth is a tough one. The city is not designed to accomodate the type of growth it has been experiencing. The roads are old, narrow and conjested. Capitol Blvd is wide, but way to many intersections and just a complete nightmare to navigate. The best way for growth to happen in Raleigh is to go vertical downtown. This allows people to work, shop & dine without using a car, yet adds a big revenue base to the city to improve the poor infrastructure.
FYI, the story is of WRAL's site. The station jumped the gun printing the story ahead of the media embargo date (5/29/08), so when the story actually runs that date, you'll understand why.
I found this out after posting a story on the topic on my (eponymous) blog, only to receive a friendly request from Kiplinger's PR firm to remove the story until the 29th.
According to the rep, the WRAL story is "full of inaccuracies," including the fact that the link to more info pointed to 2007 Kiplinger/Sperling data. (Data which actually show Durham's MSA with a higher % of workers in the creative class, higher creative class salary growth, and slightly lower cost of living than Raleigh-Cary.)
I'd link to the blog story on all this, but C-D and blogs don't play so nicely these days, but this is the crux of what I know on the whole subject.
Houston's economy doesn't run on oil alone. "We're really diversified," says Mike Ballases, chairman of the Houston region for JPMorgan Chase, tongue partially in cheek. "We're only 50 percent dependent on energy." (The city's biggest employer: the Texas Medical Center, the nonprofit megaplex that runs two medical schools and 14 hospitals.) At Houston's port, the second busiest in America, cranes are loading ships with industrial equipment. Exports rose 25 percent in 2007 to $72 billion.
It should also be pointed out that the Kiplinger article was titled "best places to live, work and play" so it was about more than just money. Obviously some people realize Houston can actually be a great place to live.
Growth is usually a good thing for small towns, as it brings the town the revenue to improve things. Without the revenue, things tend to fall apart. They key is controlled growth.
Sprawl can be a negative thing, but will work as long as it is not just sprawling houses. The sprawl must contain shopping, dinining and employment in it's own area. This will reduce the traffic flow out from the sprawling area.
The Raleigh growth is a tough one. The city is not designed to accomodate the type of growth it has been experiencing. The roads are old, narrow and conjested. Capitol Blvd is wide, but way to many intersections and just a complete nightmare to navigate. The best way for growth to happen in Raleigh is to go vertical downtown. This allows people to work, shop & dine without using a car, yet adds a big revenue base to the city to improve the poor infrastructure.
Besides revenue, the growth brings infrastructure needs that may completely use the revenue and still be unmet.
This kind of press also has a stimulating effect on surrounding areas, which is a real positive.
When I see "yet another top ranking" of Cary, Raleigh, and even to some degree Charlotte, I think.... "hey, free advertising for Sanford" [or insert your satellite Triad/Triangle community]
Very cool.
Al
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