Population Growth for OKC

[Motley]

PluPan, If only more people cared as much as you do about your surroundings, OKC would be amazing. I am afraid OKC suffers from complacency as much as anything.

[G.Walker]

IMO, I prefer to live in a metro area between, 1.5. - 1.8 million, I think that is about my speed, even though Dallas is nice to visit, too many people for me. I think within the next five years, in 2020, the OKC metro will be around 1.5 million, I think that's fair.

[Plutonic Panda]

Canadian County continues fast growth, new Census Bureau data shows | News OK

[HOT ROD]

I agree, I think CSA population data should be limited to cities that are within a 30 mile radius.

I also always wondered why the census bureau hasn't classified the metro area as the Oklahoma City-Norman MSA, as they do other cities, with Norman having roughly 120,000 people and 20 miles away?

For example, the Birmingham metro area is classified as the Birmingham-Hoover, AL MSA, with Hoover, AL being 18 miles away to the south of Birmingham, and has a population of 85,000...

I think OKC is so significantly larger than ANY other city in central OK that it doesn't make sense to call out any other suburb in the metro title. OKC just dominates central Oklahoma (not to mention OK in general) so much that no other city has enough of a job or commute pattern to matter.

Unlike here in Seattle area where ours is called Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA where these three are the primary job and commute cities for the region.Same for Dallas-Ft Worth (no other metro city really matters for traffic) and Chicago-Naperville (I wonder why they include Naperville since it doesn't really stack up other than being an anchor for the west - but honeslty I'd say Aurora is moreso than Naperville). Denver-Aurora also comes to mind.


I personally wonder why Shawnee is not included in the MSA as I'd include it in the MSA and put Stillwater in the CSA; me personally. Under my idea, OKC metro would be 1.4m and OKC-Stillwater CSA would be 1.5m.

[bchris02]

How about the Oklahoma CIty-Lawton-Stillwater-Tulsa Combined Statistical Area. The population is 2,469,625.

[hoya]

OKC is experiencing slower growth in part because of how far we have had to come. In the 80s Dallas had a big tv show, called "Dallas", that glamorized the city. OKC has been struggling to shed a bad image, and while we have been making progress and seeing very nice growth, we are way behind the big Texas cities as far as our image goes.

OKC needs to develop its urban core. A metro rail system, a dozen new towers downtown, the streetcar and walkable neighborhoods from 13th down to the interstate. Give us another 10 years. Win a few NBA championships. The people who come to visit OKC will have a lot of good things to say about it. In the meantime, the city needs to really improve its public schools. And the chamber needs to support candidates who aren't an embarrassment.

[In_Tulsa]

Here's the thing Tulsa and OKC will NEVER be major cities! As we continue to grow the major cities will grow faster then us. We may beat some other large cities but we won't ever be considered major cities. I think both cities needs to focus on how to be the best large cities in the country. Both cities are getting new major retailers because we are so small. They have been in the big cities for years and nobody there cares anymore. So smaller cities like OKC and Tulsa are getting more major retailers now because they are a big deal in smaller cities. So right now I think both cities need to continue to focus on making our cities better so we don't become small cities.

[KayneMo]

I personally wonder why Shawnee is not included in the MSA as I'd include it in the MSA and put Stillwater in the CSA; me personally. Under my idea, OKC metro would be 1.4m and OKC-Stillwater CSA would be 1.5m.

Shawnee is not included in the MSA and Stillwater is not in the CSA because they both don't meet the thresholds of the MSA and CSA. For a county to be a part of an MSA, at least 25% of that county's residents must work in the central county, CSA is at least 15%.

The latest data I could find is from 2011, OnTheMap
22.6% of Pottawatomie County's workers are employed in Oklahoma County, just shy of MSA requirement but meets CSA's.
Only 10.0% of Payne County's workers are employed in Oklahoma County, so it doesn't meet CSA requirement.

[dankrutka]

Dallas has huge sprawling highways, great 6 lane roads, beautiful landscaping, extensive light rail system and bus system that is constantly getting upgrades.

OKC needs to start expanding our highways, build a light rail system through out the metro, widen and reconstruct our roads, expand our airport, beautify the city, and kick these idiots out of office who keep proposing these backwards bills.

I think the two biggest factors in our sh!tty growth is lack of infrastructure and backwards politics.

When are you going to quit the narrative that DFW is good at transportation? The highways are logjammed nightmares and the DART is an example how NOT to do rail. Yet you just keep saying it... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Plutonic Panda]

When are you going to quit the narrative that DFW is good at transportation? The highways are logjammed nightmares and the DART is an example how NOT to do rail. Yet you just keep saying it... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The highway are not logjammed nightmares and DART is excellent. I've used it twice now and it takes me wherever I need to go.

I will am not going to stop saying it because I'm not wrong. DFW is great at transportation. This literally goes around and around with people of OKCTalk here. It is absurd.

You need to understand the context of when I say DART is good. I'm not comparing it to urban rail lines such as Chicago, Philly, or NYC. For the suburban city that Dallas is and should stay as, DART does an excellent job. I've talked with multiple people who live it and use it everyday.

For the millionth time, Dallas does have packed highways. I AM THERE ALL THE TIME! THEY MOVE!!!!!! Mostly. Remember, DFW is closing in on 7 million people. You can't build big enough highway to where there will never be back ups. Have you missed my post on where I point out I was driving in DFW area highways at 4:3- doing 80-85? Do you just choose to ignore that because you want to believe Dallas has nightmare highways that are parking lots?

This sentiment is a joke. I don't know how else to put it to you. If I remember right, you actually live in the DFW area. So there are either two things going on here, you either just want to paint a bad image on Dallas because you disagree with their development practices or Dallas has just done such a good job at moving 7 million people, you fail to realize how bad other cities clog up that have 7 million people.

I visit Dallas about once a week and sometimes more. Other than 35E & Stemmons Freeway, Dallas highway move good. I have never once encountered a traffic jam on George Bush or Sam Rayburn Tollways that wasn't accident or construction related. I will hit the occasional back-up on Central Expressway due to the sheer volume of cars and yes, that is bad traffic. There is no telling with that highway. It makes me think of an LA type highway that randomly back-ups various times of the day, although more often than not, I'm able to move at the speed limit(at the very least 10 under). The NDT is usually packed with cars, but it moves. I'll hit the occasional snag right around Mockingbird and Lovers LN, but it generally stays above 20MPH and doesn't last more than a mile or two before it is back up and moving. There are a couple other places it backs snags up after 635, but again, for the most part, it is only for a mile or two and it still moves above 35MPH and I'd say 80% of the highway from 635 to 380 moves well over 70MPH.

If so, I'd like to know the times of day you, Adaniel, and anyone else who thinks Dallas has nightmare traffic. I'd also like to know what highway it was and how fast you were moving. Please be specific. It is annoying how I'm giving near exact specs of highway, speed, and time of day and all I get in return is a general statement of Dallas traffic or a couple names like the obvious 35E and 635. Then Adaniel who says it constantly backed-up which is complete and udder BS because I was on it earlier this week about 2pm and it was moving just fine.

Also, let me remind people once more, Dallas has nearly 7 million people. I don't know why, I just get the feeling that some people fail to factor that in when there is a back-up in Dallas traffic and all of sudden, the whole city is like that all of time.

[Plutonic Panda]

Here is some interesting growth info.

The Villages, Fla., Nation’s Fastest-Growing Metro Area for Second Year in a Row

Florida was home to the nation's fastest growing metro area from 2013 to 2014, according to new U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan statistical area, micropolitan statistical area and county population estimates released today.

The Villages, located to the west of the Orlando metro area, grew by 5.4 percent between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, to reach a population of about 114,000. State population estimates released in December revealed that Florida had become the nation's third most populous state. Today's estimates show Florida's growth to reach this milestone was propelled by numerous metro areas and counties within the state.

Florida contained seven of the nation's top 50 numerically gaining metro areas between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, and these areas accounted for more than three-quarters of the state's population gain over the period:

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach (with a one-year gain of about 66,000).
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (about 50,000).
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (about 41,000).
Jacksonville (about 23,000).
Cape Coral-Fort Myers (about 18,000).
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton (about 16,000).
Lakeland-Winter Haven (about 11,000).
In addition, eight counties within these metro areas were among 50 counties nationwide that gained the most population between 2013 and 2014. Collectively, these counties accounted for more than half of the state's population gain over the period:

All three counties in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area: Broward (with a population gain of about 24,000 over the period), Palm Beach (about 22,000) and Miami-Dade (about 21,000).
Two counties in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area: Orange (about 26,000) and Osceola (about 11,000).
One county in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area: Hillsborough (about 22,000).
The single counties that comprise the Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Lakeland-Winter Haven metro areas: Lee (18,000) and Polk (11,000), respectively.
Furthermore, six metro areas in Florida were among the 20 fastest-growing in the nation between 2013 and 2014. In addition to The Villages, they were Cape Coral-Fort Myers (sixth), Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island (10th), Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (16th), North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton (18th) and Panama City (19th).

"Florida's ascension, revealed when the 2014 state population estimates were released last December, was a significant demographic milestone for our country," Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson said. "These county and metro area estimates provide a more detailed picture of how this happened, showing growth in areas such as central and southern Florida."

Migration to Florida from other states and abroad was heavy enough to overcome the fact that in about half the state's counties, there were more deaths than births over the 2013 to 2014 period.

Lone Star State's Notable Growth

There were two states -- Texas (with 11) and California (with 10) -- with even more counties than Florida on the list of the top 50 numerical gainers. Two Texas metro areas -- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington -- were the only ones in the country to add more than 100,000 residents over the 2013-2014 period. Within the Houston metro area, Harris County alone gained almost 89,000 people, more than any other county in the nation. The Lone Star State also had four metro areas among the nation's 20 fastest growing by rate of change: Austin-Round Rock (third), Odessa (fourth), Midland (ninth) and Houston (11th).

With a population increase of 8.7 percent from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2014, Williams, N.D., remained the nation's fastest-growing county (among counties with populations of 10,000 or more in 2013), although its growth slowed from the previous one-year period. Following Williams on the list were Stark, N.D. (7.0 percent), whose growth accelerated from the previous year; Sumter, Fla. (5.4 percent); Pickens, Ala. (5.1 percent); and Hays, Texas (4.8 percent).

Man. I just can't believe that those Texas cities are growing with those large highways that people on here constantly gripe about being a detriment to growth and blah blah. . .

Counties

Los Angeles, Calif., is still the nation's most populous county with a July 1, 2014, population surpassing 10.1 million.

Between 2013 and 2014, North Carolina became the ninth-most populous state (up from 10th). Its growth was fueled by two counties that were among the 50 top numerical gainers: Wake (Raleigh), which added about 24,000 people over the period, and Mecklenburg (Charlotte), which grew by about 20,000.

Although New York fell out of third place in state population between 2013 and 2014, it did have three counties among the top 50 numerical gainers. Each was a New York City borough: Kings (Brooklyn), which added about 19,000; Queens, which gained about 18,000; and Bronx (with an increase of about 11,000).

Among the largest counties (those with total populations of 250,000 or more in 2013), the three fastest growing were in Texas: Fort Bend, Montgomery and Williamson. Each grew by at least 3.8 percent over the period.

Among very small counties, Sterling, Texas, was the fastest growing of those with a population of fewer than 5,000 people in 2013 (8.9 percent growth). Among those in the 5,000-9,999 population range, McKenzie, N.D., led in rate of growth (18.3 percent).

The fastest-losing county between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014 (among counties with 2013 populations of 10,000 or more) was Chattahoochee, Ga., which declined by 4.2 percent. Hale, Texas (-3.0 percent) and Colfax, N.M. (-2.9 percent) followed.
Wayne, Mich. (Detroit) remains the county with the largest numeric decline, by far, at just less than 11,000. The next largest decline belonged to Cuyahoga, Ohio (Cleveland) at slightly more than 4,000.

[Plutonic Panda]

More interesting notes

Metro areas

The Carolinas were home to four of the nation's 20 fastest-growing metro areas between 2013 and 2014: Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C.-N.C. (second); Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, S.C. (13th); Raleigh, N.C. (15th); and Charleston-North Charleston, S.C. (17th).

The nation's metro areas contained about 272.7 million people in 2014, an increase of about 2.4 million from 2013.

Bismarck, N.D., was the fastest-growing metro area outside of the South or West between 2013 and 2014 (22nd overall).

Overall, 298 of the 381 metro areas in the United States gained population between 2013 and 2014.

There were 53 metro areas with 2014 populations of 1 million or more. New York was the nation's largest metro area in 2014, with about 20.1 million people.

The Tucson, Ariz., metro area surpassed the 1 million population threshold between 2013 and 2014.

Micro areas

The nation's micro areas contained about 27.2 million people in 2014, an increase of about 13,000 from 2013.

The two fastest-growing micro areas between 2013 and 2014 were in North Dakota: Williston and Dickinson.

Two Utah micro areas, Heber and Vernal, also were among the top-five fastest growing between 2013 and 2014.

Overall, fewer than half (244 out of 536) of the U.S. micro areas gained population between 2013 and 2014.
Puerto Rico

San Juan continued to be the most populous municipio (which are similar to counties), with 365,575 residents on July 1, 2014, followed by Baymón with 194,210 and Carolina with 165,820 residents.

Gurabo had the largest numerical increase of any municipio between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, gaining about 246 residents.

Four municipios experienced growth in their populations between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014: Gurabo (0.52 percent growth), Barceloneta (0.08 percent growth), Culebra (0.06 percent growth) and Toa Alta (0.01 percent growth). The remainder experienced a population decline over the period.

Each of Puerto Rico's seven metro areas and five micro areas declined in population between 2013 and 2014.

In the coming months, the Census Bureau will release 2014 population estimates of cities and towns, as well as national, state and county population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin.

Population Estimates for Counties and Metro Areas

[dankrutka]

Again, I live in DFW, I don't just visit it once a week. I drive here all the time. You can discount that if you choose. Jeff Speck wrote in Walkable Cities about how/why the DART is the model for what NOT to do with transit. Give it a read. It's got a ton of problems, is way underused, and is often unusable. For example, I love transit and want to take it this weekend, but the train runs so infrequently that it would take me 2 hours to get home. So, I'm driving... which means I'm going to face terrible traffic as always.

[White Peacock]

Again, I live in DFW, I don't just visit it once a week. I drive here all the time. You can discount that if you choose. Jeff Speck wrote in Walkable Cities about how/why the DART is the model for what NOT to do with transit. Give it a read. It's got a ton of problems, is way underused, and is often unusable. For example, I love transit and want to take it this weekend, but the train runs so infrequently that it would take me 2 hours to get home. So, I'm driving... which means I'm going to face terrible traffic as always.

Driving in Dallas makes me want to kill. I hate the fact that I have to go down there for good metal shows that skip OKC, but it is what it is.

[Plutonic Panda]

Again, I live in DFW, I don't just visit it once a week. I drive here all the time. You can discount that if you choose. Jeff Speck wrote in Walkable Cities about how/why the DART is the model for what NOT to do with transit. Give it a read. It's got a ton of problems, is way underused, and is often unusable. For example, I love transit and want to take it this weekend, but the train runs so infrequently that it would take me 2 hours to get home. So, I'm driving... which means I'm going to face terrible traffic as always.

I am willing to take a gold bet I have driven more miles than you in DFW area this year. I'm not discounting you, I just want to know what highways they are, what times of day you are encountering bad traffic, and how fast you're moving.

Jeff Speck needs not to concern himself with Dallas. If his cities are as prosperous and great as you say they are, you should have no issue finding a job and living in one seeing as you'd save money, be healthier & live longer, and very other benefit the resident urbanist continue to claim urbanism provides.

[Architect2010]

Man. I just can't believe that those Texas cities are growing with those large highways that people on here constantly gripe about being a detriment to growth and blah blah. . .

Pretty sure all those large highways were built in response to demand, growth, and congestion because automobile traffic was already the standard. Not the other way around...

It's pretty apparent a metro of 1.3 million doesn't and SHOULDN'T need the infrastructure of a 6 million+ metro. Not to say that there aren't plenty of things we can improve upon and plan for, but the whole Dallas vs OKC is such old diatribe by now. Dallas is not OKC's end-all and personally, I'm tired of coming to OKCtalk and reading about how superior Dallas is...

I was contemplating our population growth, and I think OKC is still poised for a population 'boom'. Just because the figures were not as strong as hoped for, does not mean we are stagnating or will never grow at a faster rate. This city has come such a long ways since 2000, but the transformation hasn't translated into population growth YET. For all we have done and all that has been accomplished, we are just now approaching the tipping scale in terms of critical mass Downtown and to be honest, a lot of it was catch-up. We are just now starting to see big-city development roll-in: Metropolitan, OG&E Energy Center, 499 Sheridan, The Steelyard, The LIFT, GE Research Center, the massive amounts of manufacturing and energy services, a very good real estate and office market, new retail offerings, Chisholm Creek, Glimcher, rail transit connecting Tulsa and OKC, OKC Streetcar, improved transit, etc.

We are at a momentous point in time for Oklahoma City and I truly believe that momentum has just begun to snowball within the last year or so. The projects listed above alone are a strong sign of that snowball-effect gaining traction and a city that is poised for high-growth.

[Plutonic Panda]

Plu, remember our talk about passion aligning with the facts? The data doesn't support you man. It just doesn't.

Traffic congestion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the data doesn't support me. Cool. Guess we'll just leave at you think I'm lying because I'm there all the time and traffic is flowing just fine most of the time.

[Plutonic Panda]

All the cities around the world that are booming WITHOUT stacked highways....

Well, I would certainly consider Dallas to be booming as it added over 100,000 people last year alone. So did Houston. The only cities in the US to do so.

Whatever other cities are booming, good for them.

[adaniel]

Ugh, as usual PluPan you have completely derailed a thread to discuss Dallas, freeways, your (terrible) driving habits, and/or traffic. Bravo.

And are you really as a 21 year old kid who does not even live here going to try and challenge adults who live here permanently and have to put up with stuff DAILY and the impact it has on their lives? Am I really hearing you correctly?

[Plutonic Panda]

Ugh, as usual PluPan you have completely derailed a thread to discuss Dallas, freeways, your (terrible) driving habits, and/or traffic. Bravo.

And are you really as a 21 year old kid who does not even live here going to try and challenge adults who live here permanently and have to put up with stuff DAILY and the impact it has on their lives? Am I really hearing you correctly?

Exactly the crap I expected. No exact examples of why you think Dallas has bad traffic. This 21 old kid has also talked to 'adults' who do live and work in Dallas and they feel the same way. Just another example of how disconnected the Internet is from reality.

I'll post a thread about it.

[Plutonic Panda]

I posted in the Dallas thread about this.

[Tigerguy]

Holy crap, I didn't know that this was a trial to determine whether or not Dallas has a good transportation system. I'm sure both sides can provide stats, cherry-picked or not. I'm sure both sides can provide anecdotes with varying shades of accuracy due to the fog of time and/or trying to win an argument. I'm sure both sides have their experiences, and that means that there's a wide spectrum one can encounter based on location, time, etc. There is no absolute. Of course, I could probably scrounge up a judge willing to hear the case if it's that bloody important.

I do love the internet sometimes...

[betts]

The great cities of the world are walkable IMO. There is no city made great by highways. Remember that OKC!

[Plutonic Panda]

The great cities of the world are walkable IMO. There is no city made great by highways. Remember that OKC!

I disagree. No city is made great by just being walkable either.

[Bellaboo]

Exactly the crap I expected. No exact examples of why you think Dallas has bad traffic. This 21 old kid has also talked to 'adults' who do live and work in Dallas and they feel the same way. Just another example of how disconnected the Internet is from reality.

I'll post a thread about it.

My sister and brother in law have lived on the Fort Worth side for 35 years. Traffic in the metroplex sucks. Like they say, don't leave the house before 9:00 am and be back home by 3:00 pm or wait until 7:00 pm to drive. They have grandkids over in Garland. They drive all over the place and they say traffic sucks.