Strategy Report
Growth Management Strategy Report – February 2003
Wake County, North Carolina, has a strategic location in the Research Triangle, an excellent quality of life that consistently ranks high in national surveys, and an exciting mix of urban, small town and rural lifestyles. Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport act as major growth engines not only for Wake County, but also for the entire surrounding region. Thanks to all these factors and more, the county has experienced rapid, exponential growth in recent years. It has grown by more than 37 percent since 1990, adding an average of 57 persons per day and bringing the July 2002 population to 678,751. The county is projected to grow by another one-third over the next 20 years, bringing the total population close to one million.
By early 2000, the county, municipalities and the Wake County Public School System were facing significant challenges resulting from rapid growth, including traffic jams, overcrowded schools, and loss of open space and natural areas. Communities grew closer and closer to their neighbors, as sprawling development extended across the county. Increasingly, county and municipal officials began to see the need for a more comprehensive effort to address growth concerns in Wake County. Building on their existing collaborative approaches, they sought to develop a new, comprehensive growth management strategy that recognized both the interdependence and the uniqueness of each of the communities. Local officials realized that effective regional solutions would only come about through the cooperation of all the governments, working together, in an open and participatory process.
Growth Management Strategy Report:
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