So you may not realize this, but Greenville is in the center of a “megaregion” that experts frequently call “Char-lanta” – the corridor between and including Charlotte and Atlanta (many models also include Raleigh Durham and Birmingham). If you want to geek out on what what megaregions are, head over to Wikipedia. But I’ll save you some time with the map below (courtesy of America 2050) that depicts what many consider to be the eleven US megaregions:
There is a lot of intriguing data on this map, but we are most concerned with Char-lanta (referred to as “Piedmont Atlantic” on the map). Believe it or not, by 2008 Char-lanta had already become the third largest megaregion, behind only the Northeast and Great Lakes megaregions – areas that include New York City, Boston, DC, Chicago, and other large metropolises. So Char-lanta/Piedmont Atlantic is no megaregion to scoff at.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. Char-lanta is expected in the next 40-50 years to experience a population boom, perhaps the largest percent population boom of any megaregion. Some models put the general region as experiencing between 101-192% growth through the year 2060, and others depict the greater Greenville area (within a 25-mile radius of downtown) as having between 28% percent growth through 2040. So what does that mean? Check out the below map of Char-lanta’s predicted urbanization, noting that yellow areas are already considered “urbanized” and the red areas depict extremely high probabilities of future urbanization. (Map is courtesy of PLOS ONE.)
It’s very clear on this map that the Upstate is going to experience significant urbanization. Notice how little of a gap in urbanization there is between Greenville, Spartanburg, Easley, and Anderson on this map? That only happens if a lot of people move to the Upstate and start filling in the rural and suburban areas. And apparently, that’s what the experts are predicting will happen.
So where am I going with this? The demand for real estate in the Upstate isn’t going away any time soon. Sure, there will be dips and market corrections here and there, but we’re positioned in one of the hottest regions in the country, right on I-85 between Atlanta and Charlotte. People are lining up to move here now and that will continue into the foreseeable future.
This is one reason why I’m bullish on real estate in the Upstate. That’s not to say we should make the same mistakes that we did during the Great Recession of last decade, but as the population grows in the Upstate, there are many reasons to be confident that the value of real estate in the Upstate will also experience significant growth in the upcoming years.