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the sunbelt

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Each year, hundreds of thousands of people immigrate to the U.S. in search of a better life. In much the same fashion, millions of Americans move to new locations within their country for the same reason—to find a better life. And while some cities, especially old industrial centres like Pittsburgh and Detroit, are losing significant numbers of their populations, other cities are gaining these so-called ‘domestic migrants’ at a rapid pace. Such recipients are overwhelmingly located in the ‘sunbelt,’ a term used to describe cities in the South and West for their favourable climates.

Unfortunately, since profound growth in the ‘sunbelt’ is a relatively recent phenomenon occurring in the ‘Age of the Automobile,’ most growth in such cities has occurred in the suburbs. Sunbelt cities such as Phoenix, Atlanta, and Orlando, just to name a few, are some of the most suburbanized and hence decentralized cities in the United States. Because suburbanization is most rapid in the ‘sunbelt,’ where such cities are experiencing unprecedented growth, the suburbs of these cities are the most needy candidates for a project that will bring forth regional definition and identity.

[1]

																																																																				Top 10 Domestic Migration Magnets in the United States, 1995-2000
																																																																				I
																																																																				#																				Metropolitan Area																																																																Net Domestic Migration
																																																																				1																				Phoenix																																																																245,159
																																																																				2																				Atlanta																																																																233,303
																																																																				3																				Las Vegas																																																																225,266
																																																																				4																				Dallas-Fort Worth																																																																148,644
																																																																				5																				Austin																																																																104,340
																																																																				6																				Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater																																																																103,375
																																																																				7																				Orlando																																																																101,226
																																																																				8																				Denver																																																																93,586
																																																																				9																				Charlotte																																																																93,505
																																																																				10																				Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill																																																																91,272

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[1]

Frey, William H. "Metropolitan Magnets for International and Domestic Migrations." The Living Cities Survey Series. Oct. 2003. New York: The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy. http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/2003. Pg 5. [Graphic Interpretation of Chart]

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