When Celeste and I decided to move to Winston-Salem we felt that we were moving to "small town America." We liked the idea of escaping from the craziness of the DC area, yet still having the amenities we’re used to available to us, namely malls, movies and good schools.
But did we really move to small town America? Actually no. I just took a look at the ranking of US Metropolitan Areas from the 2000 Survey, and found that the Triad (W-S, Greensboro, High Point) is ranked 37th in the country by population (1,251,509). Compared to the DC-Baltimore corridor, ranked 4th with 7,608,070 residents, we definitely downsized but you still can’t say we’re in a small town. Perception really is everything!
Here’s another surprise: the NC Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) actually ranked behind the Triad at 41st place (1,187,941) and Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill only ranked three in front of the Triad at 34th place (1,499,293). By 2010 the Triangle should pass the Triad since the growth rate for the Triangle from 1990-2000 was 39% compared to the Triad’s 19% growth. Add to that all the lost jobs in the Triad from the furniture, textiles, and financial services industries and the Triad will probably fall a bit.
And here’s a fun one to end on: Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT was in 36th place (1,333,914) and they got to host the winter olympics a few years ago. I say we go for the ’16 Summer Olympics, and put the velodrome in Lewisville. I’ll even rent my guest room to the highest bidder!
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Befuddled 
Hey John, you know that the “Triad” as an official way to describe this area (for federal economic reasons I think) got discontinued, right? Of course people will still use the term … but if you take Winston-Salem out of the Triad and put it by itself, we rank as the 104th-largest city in the states.
Also, I heard this stat on Chapel Hill that I hope and wish is true: 50,000 people live in the town, 25,000 of those are college students, and 17,000 of those college students are female.
Thanks for the tip about the term Triad. It’s probably not accurate enough of a term for anyone outside of NC to use (I’m sure there are other Triads in the States), but it sure is alot easier to say/type than Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point Metropolitan Area, or whatever they call it.
From those numbers about Chapel Hill I’d say we have another reason to be envious of UNC! Actually, I have to tell you that my initial reaction to the scene in W-S is that the women here are on the whole very…ladylike. Not nearly as many ladies in sweats and t-shirt as I used to see in the DC burbs. Can’t really offer a comment about the guys though…I guess you’d have to ask my wife.