America's midsize, 'inner Sun Belt' cities grow
One example is Murfreesboro, Tenn., which grew 51 percent in the '90s and has surged 26 percent since then.
from the July 11, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 4
Mr. Frey, looking at cities with more than 100,000 residents, finds that smaller ones – those with less than 250,000 people – are clearly the fastest growing. Their populations on average have risen 5.7 percent in the past six years. Cities in the next tier, with populations at 250,000 to 500,000, have averaged 4.9 percent growth, while the nation's largest cities have grown more slowly – 3.5 percent.
Like Murfreesboro, other communities of the interior South rank among the nation's fastest growing. These include Denton, Texas, and the town of Cary, N.C. In many cases, these growing cities overlap with the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties. McKinney, Texas, (the No. 2 city), is in Collin County (the No. 14 county). North Las Vegas (No. 1) is in Clark County (63rd in the county ranking). All these places have populations below 200,000.
By whatever name – some call them "boomburbs," exurbs, or new metropolises – these locuses of growth often have one thing in common: They're within visiting distance of a much larger city but far enough away to feel a bit removed.
"Some of the ambiguity of these terms is about the ambiguity of the situation," says Mr. Johnson.
Often, these place are lumped together statistically in a larger metro region, which can mask important demographic shifts.
Murfreesboro, for example, counts as part of the larger Nashville MSA (metropolitan statistical area), which has seen its population rise just 11 percent since 2000.
Nashville is still the big city, the place that defines this region with its country music heritage. But places like Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and La Vergne – all in Rutherford County – are where the growth is really happening.
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