[Bryan]

According to an article by Lauren Sherman of Forbes, The Villages is one of the Top Ten Fastest Growing Small Towns in America. According to her recent (12-09-2010) article, The Villages grew by 13% in 2009 to a population of 77,681 - bases on latest census figures. We were actually #2 with Fairbanks, Alaska being #1.

[ajbrown]

I would say they are not number one for the weather! These temps are Fahrenheit.

[2newyorkers]

At least it is sunny!

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by 2newyorkers

At least it is sunny!

Sunny, yes. But at those kinds of temps, things kinda.....you know.....like, start falling off and stuff!!!!!

Bill

[iandwk]

I've been in temps like that a couple of times in my younger days. I think it would kill me now. I know if my wife were with me, she would kill me for getting her into it. She has red hair (I know that has something to do with a lot of her problems) and suffers greatly from the cold. She's all snuggled up on the loveseat with a blanket this morning, complaining about the cold.

[ceejay]

Originally Posted by iandwk

She has red hair (I know that has something to do with a lot of her problems) and suffers greatly from the cold.

S'plain please, Ricky?

[BobKat1]

I noticed that the towns listed in this ranking were scattered all over the country. In addition to TV, Palm Coast, and Fairbanks there were cities in IA, NB, MT, OK, TN, NC, AR etc.

[iandwk]

Originally Posted by ceejay

S'plain please, Ricky?

She claims to actually feel pain from being cold.
She has a very low pain threshold.
She can't eat spicy food. Even food that I find bland. Too hot!
I could go on, but I've said too much already.

[Pturner]

Here's a link to the Forbes article:

It's about the fastest growing small towns. It uses percentages, so the smaller the community, the smaller the increase in the number of people for any given percentage increase. It credits the military for Fairbanks' population growth. That would explain why people move there despite the temperatures. Apparently, it's not by choice.

An oddity: It states that Fairbanks grew by 13.7 percent from 2006 to 2009. But, it states, "The Villages, Fla., a haven for retirees, saw its population increase by 13% to 77,681 in 2009." The sentence suggests a 13 percent increase in one year (2009). So there doesn't seem to be apples-to-apples comparison when the article declares "Fairbanks the fastest-growing small town in America."

Sterling journalism it isn't.

[Hawkwind]

Originally Posted by 2newyorkers

At least it is sunny!

Let's see, for 12/15/2010
sunrise 10:52 am
sunset 2:40 pm
length of day 3 hours 47 minutes

I will take TV any day.

[Rob Stevens]

This article is listed as the most popular on the Forbes site right now. I wonder why.......

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by 2newyorkers

At least it is sunny!

I don't think there are too many people moving there by choice with those temps.

It's about the fastest growing small towns. It uses percentages, so the smaller the community, the smaller the increase in the number of people for any given percentage increase. It credits the military for Fairbanks' population growth. That would explain why people move there despite the temperatures. Apparently, it's not by choice.

An oddity: It states that Fairbanks grew by 13.7 percent from 2006 to 2009. But, it states, "The Villages, Fla., a haven for retirees, saw its population increase by 13% to 77,681 in 2009." The sentence suggests a 13 percent increase in one year (2009). So there doesn't seem to be apples-to-apples comparison when the article declares "Fairbanks the fastest-growing small town in America."

Sterling journalism it isn't.

I agree with Pturner. There should have been some reasons for moving to the places on the list, such as quality of life, crime, etc.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by SwampCreature

I believe the term that applies to this article is "fluff piece". Very misleading to say in the least. If you click through the "In Pictures" gallery, the statistics are 2006-2009 for all localities listed. I was thinking the 13% for The Villages" in 2009 doesn't pass the smell test. It's for 2006-2009, like all the others.

Things were damn good in 2006-2008... and then the bottom fell out.

The very rosy description of the Palm Coast area is beyond the pale. There has been very dramatic collapse there. Flagler County has the second highest unemployment rate in the state, at 15.5%. Palm Coast always seems to be in news as a poster child of what went wrong in the Florida housing market.

So take this article with a grain of salt.

You're right, a 2006-2008 growth rate is almost meaningless, since it doesn't distinguish between pre-bust and post-bust growth rates.

[TednRobin]

But it's a dry cold, lol.

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by SwampCreature

The very rosy description of the Palm Coast area is beyond the pale. There has been very dramatic collapse there. Flagler County has the second highest unemployment rate in the state, at 15.5%. Palm Coast always seems to be in news as a poster child of what went wrong in the Florida housing market.

October 2010 Unemployment:

Palm Coast 15.5% 5,059 Unemployed
Orlando 11.2% 126,104 Unemployed
Miami 11.8% 340,862 Unemployed

Insignificant number of unemployed in Palm Coast to be labeled the poster child of what went wrong in Fla housing market. I thought I read that Port St Lucie was slammed the hardest by the housing bust - nearly 11,000 homes went into foreclosure, county government considered declaring itself a disaster area.


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