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Boone was named one of America’s fastest-growing small towns by Forbes Jan. 23.
The university town joined a list of 14 other rapidly growing areas, including leisure locales like Heber, Utah and oil meccas like Pecos, Texas.
Forbes used census data to determine which small towns are expanding most quickly, based on population growth from 2007 to 2010.
For Boone, which saw a 14.7 percent increase in that time period, plenty of factors contributed to growth. The Forbes article cites retirees, the ski industry and the growth of Appalachian State University.
“Boone has more students per non-student resident than most college towns, so that dictates what type of development and activities occur in the area,” said Todd Cherry, the director of Appalachian’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis, who was quoted in the original article. “This, combined with the relatively heavy tourism impacts, creates a unique situation for Boone.”
The article also cites Boone’s 7.2 percent unemployment rate, which is below the national average. That’s largely due to the growth of area industries like health care and the expansion of the university, Professor of Economics Peter Groothuis said.
“Generally, unemployment is lower in growth areas because people are moving to where the jobs are,” Groothuis said.
For some, Boone’s recent growth explosion was an unexpected development.
Jonathan Edwards graduated from Appalachian in December, but he lived in Boone long before that – his father has been employed by the university since before Edwards was born.
Edwards said his undergraduate experience was different from what he initially expected. He didn’t quite realize how much the town had expanded until his freshman year, when he moved into Hoey Hall.
“That was when I realized just how big it was and how it opened up my little hometown and made it this awesome college town,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all.”
For Edwards, the town’s growth is a welcome change.
“Even with all the growth, Boone still has maintained its small-town feel, especially in the downtown area,” he said. “Granted, some things have really changed. For example, I remember when Wal-Mart opened to overtake K-Mart as the place to be. But in many ways, even with the rapid growth, Boone is still Boone.”
Cherry, for his part, doesn’t believe Boone’s inclusion in the Forbes list will necessarily spur on further growth.
“Population growth rates in small towns can be quite volatile and therefore changes in growth rates over a short period do not convey much information,” he said.
For Groothuis, Boone will continue to grow – but not because it was in an article.
“[It’s] not so much the list, but why we are on the list,” he said. “We have great natural amenities – the Blue Ridge Parkway, state parks and mountains in general, great summer weather.”
Story: MEGHAN FRICK, Associate Editor, Editorial Content |
