Orange County NC Website
Attachment 2 <br />V. <br />JOINT PLANNING <br />OPERATING PRINCIPLES <br />This section is the springboard for preparation of the Land Use Pla <br />What has been described in Sections i -IV represents critical backgrou <br />information. This section suggests the setting in which the plan wi <br />be drawn (Growth Trends) and guidelines for drawing the plan (List. <br />Principles /Location Standards /Strategies). <br />The Chapel Hill /Carrboro area does not exist or grow as an isolat <br />urban area. It is increasingly becoming viewed as a component of t <br />Research Triangle Area, an area that stretches from Carrboro on the we <br />to Garner on the east. The Triangle area includes parts of Orang <br />Durham, Wake, and Chatham Counties, and contains eight municipalitie <br />The economies, housing markets, commuting patterns, and lifestyles <br />all of these areas are linked -- what happens in Raleigh affects Chap, <br />Hill: <br />What has been happening is growth -- at unprecedented levels. TI <br />increased development activity In southeast Orange County has bey <br />mirrored.in Durham and Wake Counties as well. In terms of absolu• <br />numbers, Wake County development has dwarfed everything else going on. <br />Population growth in the Triangle area has been fueled by in- migratloi <br />Migration accou"- s for approximately two- thirds of our recent populatli <br />increases (one -" rd from naturel'increase). The reasons for this Iarl <br />migration.are er4►omic opportunity and overall hl-gh quality of life. <br />The key to understanding Triangle area growth is Job creation. TI <br />reason people are moving here Is that employment opportunities al <br />exploding . Even in the low points of recent recessions, Triangle are <br />unemployment never rose above 3 %, often recording the lower <br />unemployment rate in the nation. At the focal point of new Job creatic <br />Is Research Triangle Park. <br />In the Chapel Hill /Carrboro area, development accelerated beginnir <br />49 <br />