‘Adding value’: Mooresville emerges as one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the US

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The charm of Mooresville brings in people from all over, and some of those visitors become residents.

Driving down River Highway, you’ll see construction to make room for those new neighbors, from new homes to new roads.

“Changes are happening, and changes are sometimes good and sometimes bad,” Mooresville Commissioner Tommy Deweese told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson.

Deweese has seen the changes since he moved to Mooresville in 2012. He says the biggest complaint he hears is growth.

“A lot of people were saying, we just want the growth to be thoughtful and to be managed and to be adding value,” he said.

So many people are moving here, a Go Banking Rates study last year ranked Mooresville as the nation’s fastest-growing suburb. It looked at towns with average home values under $500,000. The study found a nearly 30% population increase from 2020 to 2022.

“I didn’t even know Mooresville was in North Carolina. I thought it was in Texas,” restaurant owner Michal Bay said.

Bay is now very familiar with Mooresville. He just opened his fourth restaurant downtown.

He says South Main Street had just a few visitors when he bought the former Burlington Mill in 2008. Now, it’s filled with three of his restaurants and a bustling crowd.

He says this rapid growth is part of the reason why he opened the Florence Wine and Beer Garden off Church Street in October. He thinks the population will double in the next decade.

Commissioner Deweese says the town is approving fewer apartments and focusing on bringing more attainable housing to the area.

“Housing is a supply and demand model,” he said. “If housing in Mooresville is higher than anywhere else, it’s because our supply is not sufficient to meet demand. That’s going to drive up prices more than anything.”

He says the town is working with a developer that focuses on building single-family, workforce housing.

“My concern is our police officers and firemen and other first responders couldn’t afford to live in the town they served,” Deweese said. “They’re risking their lives. They’re there serving the town.”

Deweese added more than $750 million in roadwork is happening in the town to ease congestion. He says he’d like to see a new exit off Interstate 77, north of River Highway. He says the town board proposed the idea with the state.

Ultimately though, he believes all of the town’s neighbors, new and old, make Mooresville a great place to live.

“It’s a high quality of life, and we’re getting bigger, yes, but it’s a high quality of life,” Deweese said.

Two other North Carolina cities made Go Banking Rate’s 2024 list of fast-growing suburbs — Concord and Clayton.

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