Area suburban counties grew the fastest in 2007

DUNLAP, Tenn. — Tom and Diane Egleston were looking to escape the crime, congestion and costs of South Florida when they decided in the summer of 2005 to search for another home in Georgia, North Carolina or Tennessee.

The couple never got past their first visit to Sequatchie County, Tenn. Atop the wooded and scenic Fredonia Mountain, the former Davie, Fla., residents found what they say is an ideal spot to relocate. The Eglestons hope by May to move into their dream home being built on a 2.5-acre lot overlooking the Sequatchie Valley.

“After we came here, we never even looked in North Carolina or Georgia,” said Mrs. Egleston, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who lived for 15 years in Florida before moving to Dunlap nearly two years ago. “Property taxes, insurance and even gasoline is cheaper here, and the people are a lot more friendly.”

The Eglestons, originally residents of New York and New Jersey, are among a growing number of former Floridians moving “half back” to their native states and settling in the mountains and suburbs around Chattanooga.

The lure of the small-town life and natural settings in Sequatchie County helped the bedroom county to be among the fastest growing in the Chattanooga region last year, according to new government population estimates.

The U.S. Bureau of Census estimates that Sequatchie County, the smallest of the six counties in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, grew the fastest from July 2006 to July 2007 with a growth rate of nearly 2.4 percent. Catoosa County, Ga., also continued to outpace the growth of most other counties in Georgia and Tennessee, expanding its population by nearly 2.2 percent last year.

By contrast, Hamilton County, home to Chattanooga, grew 0.7 percent last year.

University of Georgia demographer Doug Bachtel said the growth of such bedroom counties around Chattanooga’s urban core is typical of the above-average growth in the population of most suburban communities.

“The American dream for many is still to move to the suburbs and have a single-family home with a yard, good schools and good quality of life,” Dr. Bachtel said.

Georgia on their minds

The appeal of the suburbs helped make the metro Atlanta suburban counties of Forsyth and Paulding the fastest growing counties in Georgia and the Nashville suburban counties of Rutherford and Williamson the fastest growing in Tennessee, according to census data.

The new census report found that three of the nation’s 10 fastest growing counties — and 18 of the top 100 — were in Georgia last year. Most of those counties ring Atlanta.

Overall, the population gains in Georgia last year were nearly double those in Tennessee. In metro Chattanooga, the three Georgia counties in the metro area — Catoosa, Dade and Walker — collectively grew 1.5 percent last year, or nearly double the average 0.8 percent growth in the Tennessee counties in the metro area — Hamilton, Marion and Sequatchie.

In metro Chattanooga, nearly 28 percent of residents reside south of the border in Georgia, according to the Census Bureau.

Rural population losses

But some rural counties in Tennessee and Georgia suffered population losses last year. In Tennessee, 15 counties lost population last year, including Polk and Grundy counties in Southeast Tennessee. In Georgia, 22 counties lost population, primarily in South Georgia, census data indicate.

“Population growth tends to follow job growth,” said William Fox, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. “Rural counties have been hit the hardest by the drop in manufacturing employment, and that has hurt overall population growth in many rural counties.”

With only an estimated 13,369 residents last year, Sequatchie County is among the state’s smaller, rural-type counties. But with its natural attractions and proximity to neighboring Chattanooga, Sequatchie County continues to be the fastest growing county in Southeast Tennessee.

David Barker, who served as Sequatchie County executive until he resigned in December for health reasons, said the Dunlap area has not experienced the slowdown in housing and construction of most other communities this year.

Since state Highway 111 opened a four-lane connection from Dunlap to Chattanooga five years ago, Mr. Barker said Sequatchie County’s population has boomed.

“We are enjoying good growth in our population,” he said. “That creates some problems to keep pace with community needs, but it also creates some real opportunities for our community.”

Mr. Egleston, who previously worked for the sheriff’s department in Florida, got a job working for Sequatchie County’s emergency 911 program, which has grown in response to the population increase. But the 61-year-old New Jersey native said the biggest appeal of Dunlap is its friendly people and small-town values.

“It’s like going back to the small town where I grew up,” he said.

That appeal has encouraged three former South Florida neighbors of the Eglestons to buy property in Sequatchie County.

A former Orlando, Fla., couple, Bob and Julie Caldwell, recently moved to Dunlap and bought Tony’s restaurant and hotel to manage.

“There’s a different pace of life here than in Florida,” Mr. Caldwell said.