and the difference is mostly along rural-urban lines
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/04/24/population-gains-and-losses-create-two-americas-and-the-difference-is-mostly-along-rural-urban-lines/
It seems to me that a big driver out of rural areas has been the consolidation and mechanization in traditional rural industries -- for example family farms being replaced by corporate owned mega-farms.
Census numbers expected to shift House power to the South, West | TheHill
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/550234-census-bureau-to-release-congressional-apportionment-numbers-as
>>Texas is certain to be the big winner this year.
This is really interesting because it's not as simple as it might first appear because...
Will Texas ever turn blue? Here is what the experts are saying.
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Could-Texas-ever-turn-blue-Here-is-what-the-15705068.php
Although, if you believe climate change predictions and you're relatively young, you probably wouldn't move to the South or Southwest from, say the Northeast or Central Minnesota.
>Central Minnesota
That's one of the few places that is redder than Texas.
But they have water and they won't have 100 days above 100 degrees in 2050. More and more, I think moving from a place of water plenty to a place of water scarcity is nuts.
That's one of my things after a few decades living in the West, but particularly now in a small community where there are very few layers of bureaucracy between you and the water and sewer utility (or none if you run your own well and septic).
If I move, availability of water is going to be high on my list of things to look for, which puts Texas off the map, even if it becomes the center of the progressive universe and erects statues to Bernie Sanders in the town squares.
I read Resnick's "Cadillac Desert" many years ago, bit it was easy to ignore when I lived in the Bay Area and water gets piped in from all over (including Yosemite) and you don't really have to think about it. There is so much bureaucracy, that you just call a number and pay your bill and it's all pretty much taken care of for you. I assume that is the same for every city above a fairly modest size (though already it felt a bit less true in the smaller cities I have lived in).
Which brings me back to the original thread - where is all the water for these burgeoning cities going to come from? It does create a major vulnerability. Prior to WW2, strategists realized that with precision bombing, they could effectively make New York City surrender by dropping something like just 12 well-placed bombs that would target the water supply and storage systems.
"Estimated population growth over the past 10 years has been concentrated in Wake and Mecklenburg counties, both of which had more than 1.1 million people in the bureau's 2019 population estimates. The two counties account for nearly half the state's overall population growth over the past decade"
Population growth gives North Carolina a 14th US House seat | The Fresno Bee
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article250957279.html
====
Gaining:
North Carolina
Texas
Colorado
Florida
Montana
Oregon
Losing:
California
Illinois
Michigan
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
--------
The new numbers contain some surprises. Though Texas and Florida grew, the final census count had them each gaining one fewer seat than expected. Arizona, another fast-growing state that demographers considered a sure bet to pick up a new seat, failed to get one. All three states have large Latino populations that represent about half their growth, and this could be an early sign that Hispanics shied away from the Trump administration's count.
US population declines to slowest rate since Depression | The Fresno Bee
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/article250956299.html
>census
I demand a recount! My weird little rural 'hub' town is now crawling with people. I don't think it is town-dwellers, per se, but covid refugees who moved to our many sprawling, scattered satellite communities & settlements.
Quote from: rcjordan on April 26, 2021, 08:09:01 PM
one fewer seat than expected.
But they'll make up for it in gerrymandering.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/us/politics/republicans-2022-redistricting-maps.html
>gerrymandering
Yeah, NC is one of the poster children for gerrymandering. Lawsuits are currently in the mix but I doubt a fair outcome will be the end result.
> big driver out of rural areas has been the consolidation and mechanization in traditional rural industries -- for example family farms being replaced by corporate owned mega-farms.
Peasants Marginalized by Big Farms | naked capitalism
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/peasants-marginalized-by-big-farms.html