Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
I. <br /> it if ii <br /> 7 <br /> 2.4 EXISTING LAND USE AND INFRASTRUCTURE <br /> GENERAL FRAMEWORK <br /> Orange County is located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, a <br /> e <br /> broad plateau area between the coastal plains toh the eieeast <br /> a and <br /> Rtheigh <br /> Appalachian Mountains to the west. Along <br /> and Durham, the County forms part of the "Piedmont Crescent", a <br /> string of urban areas western South Carolina. <br /> eaass chSstretch arc from Raleigh through <br /> Charlotte and into <br /> Orange County has an area of 254,720 acres or 398 square miles. It <br /> has borders Ala Alamance five other Chatham-one Caswell on the to the <br /> north, Alam <br /> east. <br /> The County is linked to other major North Carolina cities by <br /> Interstate 85 which serves Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem and <br /> Charlotte to the south, and the Virginia/ Metropolitan Washington <br /> D.C.- area to the north. The Interstate 40 corridor, completed in <br /> 1988, also links the area to the Research Triangle Park, Raleigh and <br /> points east. <br /> The incorporated Towns in the County, listed in order o decreasing <br /> population, are Chapel Hill (34,120 persons) , naordero <br /> persons) , Hillsborough (3310 persons) and Mebane (Orange County <br /> portion - 490 persons) .1 The location of these Towns is shown on <br /> the Existing Land Use Map which follows this section. The <br /> Population of the County was estimated at 102,697 persons in 1988. 2 <br /> DESCRIPTION OF TOWNSHIPS <br /> Orange County is divided into seven townships. These townships <br /> served as voting districts in the nineteenth century, but have no <br /> legal standing today. Each of the townships has distinctive <br /> character and they have been used as planning areas in developing <br /> the Land Use Plan. The location of 'the townships are shown on the <br /> Existing Land Use Map. <br /> Cedar Grove and Little River are the two most northern townships. <br /> They are rural and agricultural in character and contain no <br /> incorporated places. The 1988 populations of Cedar Grove and Little <br /> River Townships are 3998 persons and 2338 persons respectively. <br /> Based on a total area of over 80,000 acres or 125 square miles, the <br /> population density is only 50 persons per square mile in these two <br /> townships. <br /> 1 - 1985 Population Estimate, Triangle J Council of Governments <br /> 2 - Orange County Planning Department estimate, 1987. <br />