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4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Orange County is well known for its rich history, outstanding educational and employment op- portunities, and diverse and friendly citizens. Nestled in the hills of the North Carolina Piedmont, Orange County is located strategically between the Research Triangle Park and the Triad cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point.. With more than 100,000 citizens, Orange County includes historic Hillsborough, the County seat, Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina, and Carrboro, a former railroad and mill town, When Orange County was founded in 1752, five Native American tribes lived in this area, The Town of Hillsborough was the center of North Carolina politics in the colonial era and hosted the state's Constitutional Convention in 1778, where North Carolina delegates demanded that a BiII of Rights be added before they would ratify the U.8 Constitution. Orange County lies on the western edge of the Research Triangle area, which is anchored on three sides by UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Duke University. Research Triangle Park is home to leading technological companies and institutions. Orange County is part of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which comprises six Counties in the Research Triangle Area, Housing Market Analysis General Market Conditions Orange County's population has increased by more than 25% between 1990 and 2000 (rising from 93,662 to 118,227). The County is expected to experience continued growth through 2010, with the population increasing to a projected 140,750. The North Carolina Office of State Plan- ning estimates that the population in the County in 2003 is 120,881. While most of the County's population is centered in Chapel Hill (46,798 in 2000), the areas experiencing the most rapid growth are Carrboro and Hillsborough. It is estimated that almost one-third (32%) of Chapel Hill's population are students enrolled at the University of North Carolina. Over 40% of the County's population lives in Chapel Hill.. Less than 20% of the population lives in other munici- palities with the remaining 39.4% living in the remainder of Orange County, The number of households in Orange County, according to the 2000 Census, was 45,863, which represents a 27% increase in households since 1990. The racial composition of Orange County is changing. As a percentage of the total population, whites make up 78 percent of the County and the Town of Chapel HiIL Blacks comprise 13..8 percent of Orange County (11 percent of Chapel Hill), The most dramatic increase in racial groups is in the Hispanic community, where the population grew from 1,279 in 1990 to 5,273 by 2000, representing a 312.3% increase and 4 5% of the total population in Orange County. The Asian population grew 105..2% during this same period and now makes up 4.1% of the total population. The unemployment rates for Orange County have been 2% or more below the statewide unem- ployment rates and about 3% to 4% below the national unemployment rates for the past 10 years. In Orange County, unemployment has ranged from a low of only i 1 % in 1999 to a high of 3.2% in 2002, [4]