Another winning answer!
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This one is a little harder. What are the three least populated counties in the metro (CSA)?
Did you say threve? 
No, I said freeve!!!
Person, Granville, Franklin?
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Iāll wager Texas with a dollar sign!
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ding, ding, dingā¦we have a winner! Bonus is that you listed them in order from smallest to largest!
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Whenever I see this sign I think āman, a whole region dedicated to studying trianglesā¦ Didnāt ancient Greece pretty much cover that topic in full?ā
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When 540 is completed would love to see population comparisons within it compared to inside Charlotteās loop. Demographic and income data would also be interesting.
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That would be interesting for sure. My inkling is that if it were already completed today, that Charlotteās would be higher by about 15 percent or more.
Even when completed, there are going to be significant Wake growth centers that are outside of it like Wake Forest, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina.
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I was thinking back over an earlier discussion about the relative densities of municipalities in Wake and Mecklenburg counties, and decided to expand the analysis a bit. Using Census data, I compiled the density data for all 137 municipalities with a population over 5,000. The caveat is, as @John pointed out, Iām using 2010 Census data which is by now probably quite outdated, but hopefully it still paints a fairly accurate picture of the state.
In any case, as of 2010, the 10 densest municipalities with a population greater than 5,000 in North Carolina were:
- Carrboro (3030 people/sq.mi) (6.5 sq.mi)
- Raleigh (2826) (142.9 sq.mi)
- Boone (2792) (6.1 sq.mi)
- Chapel Hill (2710) (21.1 sq.mi)
- Cary (2488) (54.3 sq.mi)
- Charlotte (2457) (297.7 sq.mi)
- Greenville (2443) (34.6 sq.mi)
- Apex (2438) (15.4 sq.mi)
- Elon (2425) (3.9 sq.mi)
- Carolina Beach (2316) (2.5 sq.mi)
Regardless of how the standings might have changed now, itās very interesting to note that Charlotte is the only municipality in its region to appear on the list, and that only Cornelius (#16) and Davidson (#21) make the top 25. The Triangle, on the other hand, dominates the list, with 5 in the top 10 and an additional 4 (#11 Morrisville, #14 Durham, #18 Wake Forest, and #24 Knightdale) in the top 25.
And because Iām sure youāre wondering, the least dense municipality with over 5,000 is Unionville (in the Charlotte area), at only 220 people/sq.mi.
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Itās always fun to see this sort of analysis, even if it is 10 years old. I think that it will be interesting to do this again next year when the Census releases its 2020 numbers. Raleigh is clearly more dense today, and weāll likely see some new additions to the top ten like Morrisville.
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Wow, Cary (2488) is denser than Charlotte (2457). And thatās with Cary having a large land mass.
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Indeed, though Caryās landmass (as of 2010) is actually less than 1/5 the size of Charlotteās. Iāve updated the list above to show 2010 municipal land area as well, and the differences are pretty stark. Charlotte has over twice the landmass of the next-largest, Raleigh.
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Charlotteās land area is over 308 m2 today, and still more than doubles Raleighās. I think that Raleigh hasnāt added as many square miles as Charlotte in the last ten years, and lands around 145 m2.
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Charlotte may pass Cary in density with this Census, but it wonāt pass Raleigh, Carrboro, and it likely wonāt pass Morrisville either.
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So letās just add Apex and cary into Raleighās density 
and pretend like we annexed them lol.
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Density on paper is one thing, density in real life is another. Caryās numbers are better than Charlotte, but Caryās density is basically uniform throughout the town; nearly all single-family, single-use lots with shopping centers at the main intersections. Other than a handful of blocks in downtown, thereās nowhere in Cary that Iād call urban, and driving almost anywhere in Cary at 5pm in pre-Covid 19 times is a nightmare. The same goes for Apex. Density can be a good thing, but if it means packing as many car-dependent people into as many single-family houses as possible, it basically defeats the purpose of densifying.
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I totally understand that. If you look at sprawling suburban areas out west, they are almost always way more dense than anything in NC. The newest suburbs around Raleigh and Charlotte are being developed way more densely today than their core cities were developed primarily in the 20th Century.
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I think the most important difference in other regions around the US is the infrastructure being built during expansion. Even if other suburban regions develop new land with less density compared to our region, the street patterns, right of ways, and services are almost always set up with future growth in mind in which upgrades to the existing systems can be performed relatively easily. Our region on the other hand, include the vast majority of the city of Raleigh did not have this foresight of future growth and increased density in mind. Developers were given carte blanche on which standards and guidelines they wished to follow and our built environment is now reminiscent of this. The street systems are terribly inefficient for future growth, the pedestrian facilities are non existent, right of ways are a major roadblock, and setbacks provide a major hindrance to an urban transition. If these measures arenāt taken on the front end, the costs and hassle to correct them in the future are obscene.
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