[OC] Post-Pandemic Population Growth Trends, by US Metro Area (2022->2024)

[u/TA-MajestyPalm]

Graphic by me, created in Excel. All data from US Census here: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html

I've created similar graphics in the past, but usually from 2020-2024. This is not the best time frame as it combines the abnormal covid years with post pandemic movement.

This time frame (2022-2024) shows the most current and ongoing population trends of the last 2 years.

I also wanted to better categorize the cities into broad cultural regions vs the arbitrary geographic census regions.

[u/Waste_Molasses_936]

No wonder I-4 has gone from bad to abysmal since 2020. What used to take 1.5 hours from Tampa to Orland for the last 30 years is now: 1.5 hours to ???? at any time of day

[u/IBJON → u/Waste_Molasses_936]

It doesn't help that they can't seem to figure out that section between sand lake and Disney. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, it's always backed up for miles for seemingly no reason.

[u/capt_jazz → u/IBJON]

Remember, when in doubt the reason for traffic is lack of public transit, bike infrastructure, and side walks, as well as terrible car-centric urban planning.

[u/Nailcannon → u/capt_jazz]

I realize you don't understand the layout of orlando to be making this claim. Both Universal and disney have a direct incentive to not improve infrastructure between them because you want to keep people in your walled garden. Beyond that, we already have lynx bus routes that go all over the area. 302 and 303 will get you from universal to disney. Granted, those take I4. if you want to avoid I4, routes 38 to 350 will do the same. The only hope for rail would be to run it along I4. But again, who's going to pay for it? Neither of the parks want it. And then who's going to use it? How many families coming to Orlando have the luxury of going to both universal and disney? The vast vast majority choose one or the other. A huge amount of the traffic on that section is because there is a metric fuck ton of hotels on international drive just south of universal, and many of those people are families who wanted to go to disney but either didnt want to pay disney hotel prices or wanted to stay somewhere more central to the action, where disney is a bit out of the way.

[u/capt_jazz → u/[deleted]]

Yeah 100%, the last point makes the first several points nearly impossible to implement

[u/IBJON → u/capt_jazz]

I get the point you're making and normally, I'd agree, but this is major highway we're talking about and it's an issue of poor engineering and a huge number of tourists on the road. Nobody is going to ride their bike from Universal Studios to Disney World, and trains only get you in the general area, so wouldn't really solve transportation issues around therr

[u/Illiander → u/IBJON]

this is major highway we're talking about

A two-lane train line will beat it in people moved without even trying.

[u/IBJON → u/Illiander]

That's great, but I was disputing the biking and walkability. I don't think anyone is doubting that a train would probably be better, at least for moving people up and down the I4 corridor, but then you still have the issue of moving people around once they're off the train. 

Biking and walking aren't really a viable option when it's 90+ degrees with high humidity. Most people can't handle that kind of heat, especially tourists who aren't used to it

[u/Illiander → u/IBJON]

Fair. Intercity isn't the place for biking and walking.

[u/IBJON → u/Illiander]

Dude. Look at a damn map. This isn't "Intercity". This isn't downtown Orlando, or Chicago, or any other major densely populated city. The Greater Orlando area is very spread out, which is crux or the issue.

This is a specific stretch of highway between two major tourist destinations. There's stuff there, but this isn't a case of people just heading to the store down the block or work 3 streets over. If you're passing through here regularly, you're probably traveling a lot further than would be reasonable in bike or foot.

A train would be great for bypassing this area or navigating up and down I4, but most people don't live or work near I4, so it's not so simple as "build a trai". It's "build a train and massive public transit infrastructure over a huge area". 

[u/capt_jazz → u/IBJON]

Pretty sure they meant intracity

[u/Illiander → u/IBJON]

The Greater Orlando area is very spread out

Oh, so you need more local centers then, and less suburban desert.

[u/goteamnick → u/IBJON]

Are all the cars on the road going exclusively from Universal Studios to Disney World? Or are some of them going a shorter, bikeable distance?