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STEELE CREEK NEWS
Steele Creek
Population Expands Since 2000
(March 6,
2011) The 2010 census counts were released for North Carolina
last week, and they show the 2010 census population of Steele Creek
at 52,014, up 106% from the 2000 census count of 25,282. Mecklenburg
County grew by 32% from 695,454 to 919,628, so Steele Creek has been
growing at a rate three times that of the county.
As the maps below
show, the population has expanded into areas that were rural in
2000, and had been rural farmland for hundreds of years. The first map shows
dense population in many areas in 2010 that were sparsely populated in 2000.
In 2000, Steele Creek contained three densely populated areas:
neighborhoods along South
Tryon Street between Sugar Creek and Arrowood Road in the
northeast, neighborhoods along Sandy Porter Road and Brown-Grier
Road, and neighborhoods located on either side of South Tryon Street west
of Steele Creek down to Erwin Road, including Yorkshire and The
Crossings.
For 2010,
several additional areas show dense population:
-
Berewick and Stowe Creek northwest of Shopton Road West
- Areas west of Steele Creek Road including Steele Creek
subdivision and Planters Walk
- Areas surrounding the RiverGate corner
- Ayrsley
- The Palisades, although not as pronounced as other areas
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Click on the map
above for a PDF version of the map.
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Click on the map
above for a description of the 2000 census population of Steele
Creek |
Another
difference between the two maps is the extent of the Charlotte city
limits. As new development has occurred, Charlotte has annexed most
of it
into the city. However, the last major annexation was in 2007.
Charlotte will annex a small area in the Whitehall and Beam Road
areas in June 2011. See
City Council Approves Annexation in Steele Creek.
In the 2000 census, 63% of Steele Creek's population was within the
Charlotte city limits. In the 2010 census, 83% or 43,005 of Steele
Creek's population was within the Charlotte city limits. However,
only 54% of Steele Creek's land area is within the city limits. The
area that Charlotte will annex in June 2011 has an estimated
population of 1,272, according to annexation documents. That will
mean that 85% of Steele Creek's population will be within the city.
If Steele Creek were a city, it would be the 17th largest city in
North Carolina, just behind Chapel Hill (57,233), and above Burlington
(49,963), Wilson (49,167), and Huntersville (46,733), which grew by
87% since 2000, a significant increase but less than Steele Creek.
Steele Creek increased from 3.6% of the county's population in 2000 to 5.7%
in 2010.
New county commissioner and school board districts will be redrawn
before the 2012 election to divide the county's population in 6
approximately equal parts. If Steele Creek remains in tact in one
district, it will make up 34% of that district.
That part of Steele Creek
within the city limits increased from 2.9% of the city's population in 2000 to
5.9%
in 2010.
If city council districts are redrawn to divide the city's population into
7
approximately equal parts and the incorporated portion of Steele Creek remains in one
district, it will make up about 41% of that district.
The northern boundary
of the Steele Creek community, as defined by this web site, follows
the northern boundary of Steele Creek Township between Lake Wylie
and Steele Creek Road. In 2009, Mecklenburg County reported a
correction to the boundary to the Census Bureau. This correction
moved the boundary southward about 1000 feet. (See
Steele Creek Township Shrinks and Shrinks Some More.) As
a result, the land area of Steele Creek has been reduced from 46.78
square miles to 45.96 square miles based on 2010 census geography.
In the 2000 census,
the population density of Steele Creek was 540 persons per square
mile. For 2010, this increased to 1132 persons per square mile. The
2010 population density was 1747 persons per square mile in the
portion of Steele Creek inside Charlotte and 422 persons per square
mile in the area outside the city.
The population grew
rapidly in Steele Creek early in the last decade, but development
has slowed to almost a halt in the last few years as a result of the
housing crisis. Some areas remain rural, especially in the western
fringe, but likely will see new development in the future. Other areas will remain unpopulated, including McDowell
Nature Preserve and the industrial corridor along Westinghouse
Boulevard. Additionally, new residential development is unlikely in
many areas just south of the airport where airport noise and
industrial zoning will tend to make nonresidential development more
likely.
To comment on this
story, please visit the
Steele Creek Forum.
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