Agenda - 01-14-1986 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Esti ate 0 otl m en n The Jo ' n PL n 'n A a Area planning staffs are in the process of estimating future area employment for the revised Regional Transportation Plan . These estimates are developed by comparing current population estimates from the Office of State Budget and Management to current employment figures , and then projecting total employment for areas of the County (broken up into traffic zones) based on estimated future land use patterns and population . This technique provides an indication of how the Local employment market could change given some basic assumptions about how and where the majority of area residents will be working by the year 2000 . haracter Of The' Loca L Eg Loymen_t_Mar Chapel Hill , Carrboro and Orange County are part of the Triangle J Region of the state, better known as the Research Triangle . This six— county area is characterized as having a consistently high rate of growth in employment opportunity compared to its rate of population growth . This translates into a very favorable employment climate . These additional jobs are concentrated in the government , higher education , research and development and service sectors . This favorable climate has been noted across the state and nation , and as a result , the area continues to experience a net immigration of persons from within and outside the state . The major center for research and development employment for the REgion continues to be •the Research Triangle Park , Located in Durham and Wake Counties . RTP also serves to encourage commercial and industrial development in areas surrounding the Park . Major centers for government , higher education , end service employment in Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties are the three area universities (University of Ncrth Carolina , Duke , and North Carolina Central) , N .C . Memorial Hospital , and Blue Cross Blue Shield . Three of these major employers are Located in Orange County, and, more specifically , in Chapel Hill . In ,fact , of the 26 County employers who employ over 100 persons , over 80% are located in Chapel Hill/Carrboro area . Increases in commercial and retail trade employment have not kept pace with growth in these other sectors . The major commercial employment centers for the Triangle are all Located outside Orange County . In fact , the annual survey of resident buying income and retail sales by Sales Marketing Iand Management Magazine indicates that the City of Raleigh and Wake County are the only areas in the Triangle where total sales consistently exceed (estimated resident buying income. Orange County retail sa'Les (in 1984) amount to only 47% the total estimated buying income of county residents . A majority of Orange County ' s major commercial centers are in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area . Of the nine commercial centers noted in the 1982 Chapel Hill Thoroughfare Plan , all but two have been developed to some degree . It is believed that Little commercial development should be encouraged outside of these centers because of concerns about the impacts on the existing Living environment , traffic patterns, traffic 44