r/dataisbeautiful • u/TA-MajestyPalm • 4d ago

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

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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.

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u/Waste_Molasses_936 3d ago

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

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u/scoofy 3d ago edited 3d ago

Fun fact. Highways have a finite capacity. Once they hit that capacity, the become exponentially worse with each additional automobile on the road, and they're effectively impossible to increase in capacity over time. It's like filling a bathtub faster than it can drain: once the water starts spilling over the side there's basically nothing you can do to stop it, and all the extra water is a problem.

We built all these highways one or two generations ago, and they were smart enough to build them all with tons of excess capacity built in -- enough to last a lifetime. Welp, now it's been a lifetime, and they're failing. Cars are much more efficient in the short run, when there's lots of greenfield construction going on, but once you hit the highway capacity in your city at peak times, it's much for efficient to switch to a high density, variable scale, from of public transit (trains, trams, BRT, etc.) simply because they will always have excess capacity to fill.

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u/elboberto 3d ago

The solution is bringing jobs, schools, and shopping to the places closer to where people live so they don't have to get on the highway for everything. But we don't do that in Florida.

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u/ObvMann 3d ago

But I wanna love in the exurbs!!! Run more water, sewer, gas, electric, and every fuckin thing else another 7 miles to my home from my closest neighbor!