Fastest-growing census tracts boomed because of roads, sewer and location, location, location

The areas of Forsyth County with the biggest population growth from 2000 to 2010 boomed in part because they had sewers available, improved roads and proximity to major thoroughfares and shopping, said local planners, builders and developers.

U.S. Census data released this week, when compared with 2000 data, showed the highest growth along Peters Creek Parkway to the south, near Stratford Road toward Clemmons and in the Sedge Garden area toward Kernersville.

Sewer extension and the widening of Peters Creek Parkway and other nearby connecting roadways did a lot to accelerate growth on the southern end of Peters Creek Parkway, said Glenn Simmons, a principal planner for the City-County Planning Department.

"Obviously that's like bringing water to the desert," Simmons said. "Things just happen."

Residential developments have sprouted off several roads in that area, including Pope and Old Salisbury roads. Retail developments include a Wal-Mart Supercenter and Lowe's home improvement store off Peters Creek Parkway. Nearby, there are still plans for Stafford Place, a mixed-use development on 36 acres on Stafford Village Boulevard.

The catalyst for growth off Stratford Road in the Griffith Road area included the construction of new Interstate 40 and the expansion of Hanes Mall in the 1990s that helped provide easy access to I-40 and shopping, Simmons said.

The area is convenient to many workplaces and medical services, he said.

Steve Smotherman, a project planner for the City-County Planning Department, said offices, including medical, are peppered throughout the Silas Creek Parkway and Hanes Mall Boulevard areas.

"You've got a lot of employment there with the hospitals," Smotherman said.

Planners said the Sedge Garden area along Kernersville Road has been helped by its central location in the Triad.

Jeff Hatling, the community development director for Kernersville, said studies show that in eastern Forsyth County, a higher percentage of commuters head into Guilford County than into the Winston-Salem job centers.

"That's due to the fact that the airport area and I-40 corridor in Guilford County have been seeing the largest amount of new job growth in the Triad," he said.

Smotherman thinks the Sedge Garden area also grew because it is near the increased commercial development in Kernersville on South Main Street.

With the slowdown in the housing industry and a recession in the past several years, development has slowed considerably in all three major growth areas of the county.

Sage Meadows, a housing development off Old Salisbury Road in Winston-Salem, opened in 2006 with plans for 125 to 150 homes before the economic crunch hit, said Jim Armentrout, the vice president of Ramey Properties, the subdivision developer.

Today, Sage Meadows has about 35 homes.

"It's not only the economy that has to pick up," Armentrout said. "The people who loan the money to builders and developers are going to have to come back to the table, so to speak, because they have been the ones who have been reticent, and understandably so, to loan money."

Royal Homes of North Carolina chose to be a builder in Glennstone, a housing subdivision at Sedge Garden and Union Cross roads in Kernersville, because of the central location.

"It's still a great place to be," said Bob Woodard, a partner with the company. "The location is fantastic between Winston-Salem and High Point and Greensboro."

Planners, builders and developers say growth will continue when the economy recovers.

Hatling said there is still a large amount of undeveloped land to the east of the Sedge Garden area off Union Cross Road and N.C. 66, south of I-40.

"So with additional available land, sewer capacity, its central location in the Triad and with the job growth in the airport area, we will continue to see the southeastern part of Forsyth County being a factor for residential growth," he said.

He expects recovery in the housing market within the next 12 to 24 months.

Paul Norby, the director of the City-County Planning Department in Winston-Salem, agreed, saying that there is a backlog of approved subdivision lots still on the books.

Hatling said retail won't increase substantially until new housing starts are back in line.

"That will indicate to the retailers there are desirable store locations to capture the new residential growth," Hatling said.

RS Parker Homes LLC is one of the builders in the Old Salisbury Place subdivision in the Peters Creek Parkway growth area.

James Minton, a builder representative for RS Parker Homes, expects the area to keep growing because of its affordable housing, access to major thoroughfares and location close to shopping, restaurants and places of worship. The area is 10 to 15 minutes from major employers Forsyth Medical Center and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

"This is major considering rising fuel costs," Minton said.

Norby is already looking to the future as the planning staff works on an update to Legacy, a long-range development guide adopted by Forsyth County and its municipalities in 2001.

Nationally, more young people are interested in living in urban environments, and that trend is starting to show up in Forsyth County, Norby said.

He does not think suburban locations with large lots are going to be as popular with the younger generations as they have been in the past.

"That's something to be aware of as we go forward and we come out of the economic malaise as we make this transition into what we might call the 'new economy' with knowledge-based jobs that are going to be attracting more younger people," Norby said.

fdaniel@wsjournal.com

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