Raleigh's growth is showing

Census finds city No. 1 on East Coast, No. 6 nationwide

Raleigh ranked sixth in the nation in numerical growth from July 2004 to July 2005. The city added nearly 14,000 new residents, more than any city on the East Coast, according to U.S. Census estimates released today.

The Census estimates put Raleigh's population at 341,530 as of July 1, 2005.

Raleigh's hot spots of growth, spurred by jobs and an influx of young families and retirees, cluster around massive subdivisions at the city's expanding edges. Thousands of single-family homes and townhouses have added to the population in places such as Wakefield Plantation in North Raleigh, Brier Creek near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, and developments near Rock Quarry Road in the southeast corridor.

The blistering growth is expected to continue. The recent estimates don't yet fully reflect the approximately 2,800 acres Raleigh annexed in the same period for new development. And they don't represent the nearly 2,500 units of condominiums under construction or planned for downtown, which could add 5,000 people to the city's core over the next three to four years. "We're becoming a big city," said Mitchell Silver, Raleigh's planning director.

But with big city growth come big city problems. Both Raleigh and Wake County recently raised their property taxes to cover expenses of growth and maintain their reputation for great schools and quality of life.

Rolesville's new role

The growth in Raleigh also has contributed to a chain reaction of red-hot residential growth in peripheral towns.

Four Wake County towns around Raleigh -- Rolesville, Wake Forest, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina -- led the state in percentage growth between July 1, 2004 and July 1, 2005.

Like Raleigh, the towns see a lot of transplants from New York, New Jersey, Florida, California and mid-Atlantic states.

"Bless them Yankees," said Herbert Eddins, 78, owner of the sprawling Rolesville Flea Market downtown. "I need new customers. ... Let 'em keep coming," Eddins said, sitting inside the former livery stable, now stuffed with furniture, accessories, old records, expired license plates and four radios tuned to 99.9 FM, a country music station.

But towns such as Rolesville have also gotten a good number of newcomers fleeing growth from places closer by.

Kathy Kraft, 45, came in April from Wake Forest, where she moved 12 years ago, seeking a piece of country and a sense of safety.

She was happy when Wake Forest got an Applebee's, but less happy after all sorts of other restaurants and chain businesses flooded the area. She lost the feeling of security after a man stole her wallet in the neighborhood Food Lion. And she got fed up after streets she traveled were closed to build a bridge, widen roads and add a bypass.

"The growth there -- it ran us out," Kraft said.

Some of her friends questioned her move to Rolesville, which she said seems poised to become another Wake Forest. No town saw faster growth last year than Wake's tiniest town. Rolesville grew by 19 percent. A few years ago, it had no subdivisions. Now, four large subdivisions are being built with average home prices of $300,000 and more -- encouraged by the completion of Interstate 540 and expansion of U.S. 401 nearby. Town Manager Matt Livingston expects the town's population of 1,238 to quadruple in the next five years.

Safe -- for now

But for now, Kraft relishes the quiet town, sitting on her porch and watching the grass grow.

Rolesville is so safe that when downtown merchant Eddins closes shop at night, he leaves for-sale items outside -- fishing rods, old bedpans, Pepsi bottles, bird baths and gumball machines. "It just amazes [people] that nobody steals stuff," Eddins said.

The growth has allowed Rolesville to dream big. The town hired its first full-time parks and recreation director and planning director. It is ramping up its athletic program and planning to expand a 37-acre-park to include walking trails, a new town hall and a community center.

New residents such as Kraft can't help wishing for a few more conveniences. But what they hope for could become the very thing they tried to escape.