ABSTRACT
This chapter profiles the Piedmont megapolitan cluster in the areas of major demographic and housing trends, employment and development projections, the extent of economic dependency, and attractiveness characteristics. It deals with perceptions of major planning and development challenges. About half the residents in the Piedmont megapolitan cluster live in a county with a metropolitan area of more than one million residents, and more than 85 percent live in a metropolitan area. Over the period 2010–2040, the non-Hispanic white population will account for about 20 percent of the Piedmont megapolitan cluster's growth, while minorities will account for the remaining 80 percent. There was sufficient employment in the Piedmont megapolitan cluster to support about 4.6 billion square feet of nonresidential space, including industrial, commercial, and institutional uses, in 2010. Less than half the population of the Piedmont megapolitan cluster lives in a knowledge class county, and there is little difference between the Atlanta and the Carolina megapolitan areas.
