Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

Login Options

10:17 p.m. • 2-10-12

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Sat: Mostly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 52° F
  • Sun: Clear.
    • Hi: 43° F
  • Mon: Mostly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 50° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Marketplace Links

Social Links

Main Menu

Population Boom Moving Into Youngsville Area


e-mail print friendly
The town of Youngsville has a quaint downtown area, with brick sidewalks, antique stores, and pictures from the past. But times are changing and the area is in the midst of a population boom.

Stephan Bezzina, who moved to Youngsville a year and a half ago, has a brand-new business and an eye out for what's to come.

“I'd say 80 percent of the people we get here on a daily basis are people who have just moved in over the past few years,” Bezzina said.

“A lot of (the growth) is spillover from Wake County,” said Youngsville Town Administrator Barbara Robbins. “Wake County is filling up, Wake Forest is filling up, and we're the next town down the road.”

In 2000, 650 people lived in Youngsville. Now, there are roughly 1,100 people. By 2009, town leaders expect 2,800 residents. In just nine years, the population will have quadrupled.

The housing and construction industries are expanding as well. The town of Youngsville issued 19 housing permits for single-family homes last year. Town leaders said they're expecting six times that number in 2007. Youngsville is also in line to get its first grocery store this year.

But with all the growth that's coming to Youngsville, nearby Franklinton's population is stable for now. With only five miles between them, it's a big difference between the two Franklin County towns.

County leaders said that Franklinton will be next in the building boom. Both town and county leaders said they are planning for the expected growth to make sure the county’s resources can keep up.

“On the northern corridor down (U.S. Highway 1), you're seeing Youngsville getting it first and it's encroaching right on to Franklinton,” Robbins said.

RELATED TOPICS: Wake County, Franklin County, Wake Forest

e-mail print friendly

4 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments 4 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
Would find any reason to go to Youngsville, because, yes it is a joke. myhometown, please stay out of Raleigh, we are trying to retain a higher IQ here. If you come to town, it would drop significantly

Nascarnutnc must be from the North!! I have lived in Youngsville my entire life and we are raising our children here. The only problem Youngsville has is everybody moving in and thinking the Town is a joke. Youngsville is a small Town, you can go to Griffin's on Saturday morning and know about everybody in there. Our schools are overcrowded because of all these people moving in. If you don't like our Town SHUT up and STAY out of it!!

God, people are getting hard up for a place to live, aren't they.

My grandmother and her family have lived in Youngsville for a very long time and I didn't even know there was a "downtown". I feel ashamed...

View Comments 4 COMMENTS
Report It

Multimedia

Click Here