Musings from the Mountains

Haywood County, NC has a lot of new construction homes, apartments, and road improvements in progress currently.  Horton Homes has 3 new developments still in progress, and they have begun building homes for another development on Jonathan Creek Road (Hwy 276 North).  There are 2 new apartment complexes that are almost full, and a third large apartment complex that recently began renting apartments.  There is another apartment complex off Howell Mill Road that recently broke ground and another in the planning stage that just got preliminary approval to proceed.  This does not include small contractor-built home clusters that have popped up in Waynesville.  With all the new apartments, home developments and road construction in progress, it would seem that the county is having record growth.  This would be logical because we are a beautiful county with the highest average elevation of any county east of the Mississippi River.  Our climate here has 4 distinct seasons, with just a small amount of snow in the Winter, and cooler temps in the Summer than the piedmont or coastal counties of NC.  So, how fast are we growing in relationship to say Buncombe County (Asheville) to our east, or the entire state of NC, or even the entire United States?  Let’s take a look:

Since 1974 Haywood County has grown in population from 43,844 to approximately 63,300 today.  That is a 44.4% population growth in 52 years.

Buncombe County (Asheville) to our east has grown in population from 152,366 in 1974 to approximately 284,052 today.  That is an 86% population growth in 52 years.

The state of NC has grown in population from 5,461,082 in 1974 to approximately 11,300,000 today.  That is a 106% population growth in 52 years.

The United States has grown in population from 217,076,476 in 1974 to approximately 349,000,000 today.  That is a 60.7% population growth in 52 years.

When you compare the above numbers, I guess we haven’t outgrown our britches.  The entire United States has outgrown us; North Carolina as a whole has outgrown us (and outgrown the whole United States); the Asheville area (Buncombe County) has outgrown us considerably in the last 52 years.  So, are we having record growth?  Yes, we are, but so are other counties, our state, and our nation.  I grew up in a retail environment.  One of my bosses told me many years ago, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.  So, when it comes to growth, our county, our neighboring county, our state, and even our nation, is healthy.

If you’re interested in moving to our beautiful mountains, let us know.  We can help.