Purpose
Virginia’s population has increased by over 25% in the last two decades, but a relative few have moved directly into cities — instead, many have chosen the suburbs in the surrounding counties. This study is meant to highlight the counties into which the new Virginians are moving, and how much new development has had to take place to accomodate them.
Notes & Clarifications
- “Land consumed” means built-upon, developed land; it doesn’t include land used for agriculture or forestry. It also does not include golf courses, football fields, or other maintained expanses of grass, sand, or basically anything other than concrete and pavement.
- Consumed land change is a percentage of the county’s total land area, not just the the change in developed land.
- “Percent of state change” is that county’s percentage of the entire state’s difference; e.g., between 1990 and 2010, 1.69% of people who moved to Virginia moved to Albemarle County.
- Data for the 2011 NLCD first became available in mid-2014, after this project had been completed.