A Map of America's Future
#1
www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2013/09/04/a-map-of-americas-future-where-growth-will-be-over-the-next-decade/


INLAND WEST

The Inland West extends from the foothills of the Rockies to the coastal ranges that shelter the Pacific Coast. This is the West as we understand it historically, a land of spectacular scenery: icecaps and dry lands, sagebrush, high deserts and Alpine forests. From 2003 to 2013, it enjoyed the most rapid population growth in the nation: 21%. It is expected to continue to outgrow the rest of the country over the next decade, as the area boasts the highest percentage of young people under 20 in the U.S.

Much of this growth was driven by a combination of quality of life factors — access to the outdoors and relatively low housing prices — as well as strong economic fundamentals. Over the past decade the area has enjoyed nearly 8% job growth, the strongest in the country, with the highest rate of STEM growth in the nation over the past decade. Boise, Denver and Salt Lake City have posted stellar employment growth due to the energy boom and growth in technology. The western reaches of the region — the inland parts of Washington, Oregon and California — have not done as well. These areas suffer from being “red” resource- and manufacturing-oriented economies within highly regulated, high-tax “blue states.”

THE LEFT COAST

The Northeast may still see itself as the nation’s intellectual and cultural center, but it is steadily losing that title to the Left Coast. This region sports a unique coastal terroir, with moderate temperatures, though it may be a bit rainy in the north. The climate requires less power than elsewhere in the country for heating and air-conditioning, making its residents’ predilection for green energy more feasible.

Over the past 20 years, the Left Coast — the least populous nation with some 18 million people — has rocketed ahead of the Northeast as a high-tech center. It has by far the highest percentage of workers in STEM professions — more than 50% above the national average — and the largest share of engineers in its workforce as well. No place on the planet can boast so many top-line tech firms: Amazon and Microsoft in the Seattle area, and in the Bay Area, Intel, Apple, Facebook and Google, among others.

Over the next decade, the Left Coast should maintain its momentum, but ultimately it faces a Northeast-like future, with a slowing rate of population growth. High housing prices, particularly in the Bay Area, are transforming it into something of a gated community, largely out of reach to new middle-class families. The density-centric land use policies that have helped drive up Bay Area prices are also increasingly evident in places like Portland and Seattle. The Left Coast has the smallest percentage of residents under 5 outside the Great Lakes and the Northeast, suggesting that a “demographic winter” may arrive there sooner than some might suspect.
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#2
Quote:THE GREAT PLAINS

The vast region from Texas to Montana has often been written off as “flyover country.” But in the past decade, no nation in America has displayed greater economic dynamism. Since the recession, it has posted the second-fastest job growth rate in the U.S., after the Inland West, and last year it led the country in employment growth. The Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas all regularly register among the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

The good times on the Plains are largely due to the new energy boom, which has been driven by a series of major shale finds: the Bakken formation in North Dakota, as well as the Barnett and Permian in Texas. The region’s agricultural sector has also benefited from soaring demand in developing countries.

Most remarkable of all has been the Plains’ demographic revival. The region enjoyed a 14% increase in population over the past 10 years, a rate 40% above the national average, and is expected to expand a further 6% by 2023, more than twice the projected growth rate in the Northeast. This is partly due to its attractiveness to families — the low-cost region has a higher percentage of residents under 5 than any other beside the Inland West.

But outside of the oil boom towns, don’t expect a revival of the small communities that dot much of the region. The new Great Plains is increasingly urbanized, with an archipelago of vibrant, growing cities from Dallas and Oklahoma City to Omaha, Sioux Falls and Fargo.

Its major challenges: accommodating an increasingly diverse population and maintaining adequate water supplies, particularly for the Southern Plains. The strong pro-growth spirit in the region, its wealth in natural resources and a high level of education, particularly in the northern tier, suggest that the Plains will play a far more important role in the future than anyone might have thought a decade ago.
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#3
I read some years ago that something like 95% of the population living west of the Rockies lives within a 1/2 hour commute of I-5. Easier to manage the serfs when you have them on the reservation.
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#4
(09-07-2013, 09:57 AM)Sidewinder Wrote: I read some years ago that something like 95% of the population living west of the Rockies lives within a 1/2 hour commute of I-5. Easier to manage the serfs when you have them on the reservation.

Are you one of those people who sees some conspiracy when confronted by a simple fact?
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#5
(09-07-2013, 09:57 AM)Sidewinder Wrote: I read some years ago that something like 95% of the population living west of the Rockies lives within a 1/2 hour commute of I-5. Easier to manage the serfs when you have them on the reservation.

If you consider that the land between the Rockies and more than 1/2 hour from I-5 is mostly desert or uninhabitable mountains with little industry for jobs. I'm not surprised.
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#6
(09-07-2013, 10:00 AM)tvguy Wrote:
(09-07-2013, 09:57 AM)Sidewinder Wrote: I read some years ago that something like 95% of the population living west of the Rockies lives within a 1/2 hour commute of I-5. Easier to manage the serfs when you have them on the reservation.

Are you one of those people who sees some conspiracy when confronted by a simple fact?

Oh, you didn't know!?!?!??!Twitch

Historically the west was settled around water sources. It was the government controlling mother nature and the biological need for water, in order to put us serfs on the reservation.

Man, where have YOU been!?!?!

LaughingLaughing
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#7
what does West of the Rockies mean? I doubt that statistic.
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#8
(09-08-2013, 07:00 PM)bbqboy Wrote: what does West of the Rockies mean? I doubt that statistic.

Um the west of rocky MOUNTAINS?Razz The big tall things you went over when you came from Kansas.

I've heard the same statistic before., not sure if it's 95%.
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#9
I know where they start. It's where they end I was interested in.
Since I 5 runs thru SD, LA, Sactown, Portland, & Seattle and the Bay area is within 50 miles most folks do reside there.
Still don't know about 95% though.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains
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#10
There are lots of population density maps. With this one each dot is 76000 people.


[Image: r23w1w.jpg]
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#11
thank you, tv
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