A new report from the Census Bureau, from a story at New Geography, confirms what anyone who is paying attention already knows; the best way of life—particularly for families— in America in the 21st Century is in the suburbs, and people continue to move there.
The reasons are simple: more room, easier to get around, safer, and generally much more beautiful surroundings compared to most downtown city cores—Sacramento for example—who are still struggling to find their way.
An excerpt.
“The US Bureau of the Census has just released an analysis of suburbanization showing that the nation continues to suburbanize, despite the consistent media “spin” that people are leaving the suburbs to move to core cities.
“The report, Population Change in Central and Outlying Counties of Metropolitan Statistical Areas: 2000 to 2007, goes further than our previous 2000 to 2008 analysis that showed strong domestic outmigration from central counties to suburban counties and beyond.
“Our report compared trends between the core county (such as the 5 county New York City core) of each major metropolitan area. The new report compares population trends between what it terms “central counties” and outlying counties. The Bureau of the Census considers any county in the metropolitan area that is generally beyond the urban area (urban footprint) to be outlying. Thus, in Chicago, the report considers not only the core county of Cook, but also 9 additional counties as around it as central (Figure 1). Not surprisingly this means the bulk of the metropolitan area population is in the central counties (92%), however there is rapid movement even further out to the outlying counties.”
