case

The North Carolina Domes Professional Baseball Stadium Case

The governor and mayors of the largest cities in North Carolina agree that the state needs a domed Major League Baseball stadium. They also agree that the citizens of North Carolina and its tourists can only afford one. But where should it be put? Naturally, the political leaders cannot agree on where to build it. Unbiased consultants from your company were called in to study the problem. They suggested that the 10 most populated counties in North Carolina be treated as “supply points” and that the optimal site be determined by using an unbiased, mathematical facility location model. The consultants justified their suggestions by noting that: (1) a mathematical model would be politically unbiased, (2) the location based on a mathematical model would probably be economically and logistically logical, and (3) regardless of where you put the domed stadium, not everyone will be satisfied anyway.

A. Using the map of North Carolina provided develop a grid system showing clearly the X and Y coordinates used to locate the 10 counties most populated counties. Since the domed stadium cannot be completed before 2025 use the North Carolina county population data for 2025 listed in the table provided. Note: A downloadable version of the data can be found on the following webpage: https://files.nc.gov/ncosbm/demog/countytotals_populationoverview.html

B. Using the Center of Gravity technique determine the optimal mathematical location

for the domed stadium.

C. While mathematical location models are “blind” to the realities of highways, lakes, rivers, mountains, etc., does the location determined by the math model makes any sense? Justify your answer. Could the mathematical location be used as a starting point and slightly “moved” to a different location that makes greater geographical, logistical, and economic sense? If so, to where would suggest the location be moved and why?

D. Would the mathematical location be any different if you used the population estimates for 2030?

County July 2010 July 2015 July 2020 July 2025 July 2030 July 2035 July 2039

Alamance 151440 156554 174055 183868 192656 201442 208474

Alexander 37235 37550 38755 39890 41021 42155 43062

Alleghany 11139 11237 11510 11729 11948 12170 12346

Anson 26852 26035 25289 25286 25288 25287 25288

Ashe 27228 26989 28150 29525 30906 32285 33392

Avery 17765 17764 18035 18030 18031 18031 18031

Beaufort 47807 47612 47490 47533 47575 47618 47650

Bertie 21245 20409 19601 19600 19601 19600 19600

Bladen 35192 34898 34444 34178 33912 33647 33436

Brunswick 108065 122957 146135 162995 179854 196715 210202

Buncombe 238737 253775 267046 282004 296961 311914 323879

Burke 90575 89321 91934 93599 95263 96926 98257

Cabarrus 178535 194982 216608 238400 259075 280906 297591

Caldwell 83021 82765 83703 85915 87711 89642 91152

Camden 10009 10214 10717 11079 11266 11362 11403

Carteret 66698 69742 71640 74078 76536 78994 80960

Caswell 23753 23491 23666 23664 23665 23666 23667

Catawba 154766 156197 160504 165562 170616 175671 179716

Chatham 63840 69228 77713 86317 94920 103523 110406

Cherokee 27431 27729 29972 31470 32681 33659 34304

Chowan 14737 14431 14074 13833 13592 13354 13164

Clay 10607 10969 12058 12968 13770 14474 14978

Cleveland 97919 97755 100289 101688 102157 102313 102361

Columbus 57975 57188 56220 56220 56219 56219 56218

Craven 104176 103111 103983 104595 104846 104945 104982

Cumberland 327195 329046 333209 334770 335069 335128 335137

Currituck 23674 25538 27952 30085 32219 34353 36058

Dare 33982 35756 37560 38624 39333 39803 40066

Davidson 162861 164418 170888 177937 184987 192036 197678

Davie 41255 41625 43965 46788 49615 52439 54699

Duplin 58650 59769 59756 59854 59932 59996 60038

Durham 271354 296917 320322 343217 366111 389008 407324

Edgecombe 56626 54268 52447 51753 51062 50368 49813

Forsyth 351393 365378 383123 400595 418257 435959 450125

Franklin 60818 64069 70212 75707 81204 86700 91096

Gaston 206105 212197 223842 230992 239285 247517 253970

Gates 12165 11819 12165 12236 12254 12260 12261

Graham 8870 8751 8686 8686 8686 8687 8687

Granville 57665 58226 62147 65844 69540 73239 76197

Greene 21259 21016 21051 21048 21050 21050 21050

Guilford 489589 516493 545348 577959 615227 655108 688100

Halifax 54474 52212 50838 49047 47259 45470 44040

Harnett 115742 127038 137358 147960 158563 169168 177650

Haywood 58935 60451 63813 66246 68680 71115 73061

Henderson 106887 111854 119730 126283 132035 137081 140668

Hertford 24763 24508 24015 24006 24006 24005 24005

Population Overview, 2010-2039

Population

Last updated  November 15, 2019

County July 2010 July 2015 July 2020 July 2025 July 2030 July 2035 July 2039

Population Overview, 2010-2039

Population

Hoke 47496 51735 55802 61150 66691 72242 76686

Hyde 5811 5571 5156 5043 4929 4816 4724

Iredell 159768 169776 184023 197238 210452 223664 234236

Jackson 40357 41590 44848 47421 49995 52566 54624

Johnston 169681 183619 212401 241894 269736 297237 319182

Jones 10143 10205 10194 10196 10195 10196 10196

Lee 57886 58711 62429 65377 68325 71273 73633

Lenoir 59492 58225 55963 53921 51883 49844 48213

Lincoln 78104 80936 88151 93402 99743 105457 110290

Macon 33958 34803 36897 38879 40862 42848 44434

Madison 20779 21739 22843 24047 25251 26456 27420

Martin 24501 23544 23039 22478 21914 21352 20904

McDowell 45098 45447 46905 48199 49474 50752 51776

Mecklenburg 923258 1033682 1131342 1240325 1348822 1456696 1542808

Mitchell 15507 15187 15258 15300 15310 15314 15314

Montgomery 27731 27744 27712 27935 28158 28383 28564

Moore 88587 94159 102950 111534 119674 127398 133292

Nash 95789 94162 95923 96831 97276 97489 97580

New Hanover 203286 219602 239272 257841 276409 294976 309830

Northampton 22039 21143 20258 19346 18379 17425 16663

Onslow 186889 193966 204357 216817 229277 241738 251707

Orange 133986 140678 148610 156174 163699 171189 177152

Pamlico 13110 13122 13283 13366 13452 13536 13602

Pasquotank 40629 39554 39685 39602 39591 39590 39588

Pender 52416 57761 64578 70342 76106 81870 86480

Perquimans 13481 13701 13637 13737 13923 14151 14340

Person 39413 39538 40529 41233 41823 42313 42649

Pitt 168853 175475 181005 187372 193742 200109 205201

Polk 20481 20896 21852 22604 23299 23941 24420

Randolph 141986 142816 145807 150271 154739 159204 162777

Richmond 46633 45353 44993 44557 44123 43688 43339

Robeson 134496 133493 130529 127894 125259 122624 120516

Rockingham 93658 92055 91830 91864 91865 91865 91864

Rowan 138368 139639 143259 146329 149784 153693 156118

Rutherford 67737 67627 69105 70744 72379 74015 75326

Sampson 63536 63900 64458 65030 65308 65445 65502

Scotland 36063 35718 35690 35532 35370 35208 35079

Stanly 60576 61212 64236 66773 69309 71845 73874

Stokes 47349 46557 46360 46162 46062 46008 45988

Surry 73769 72535 73231 73233 73231 73233 73231

Swain 14011 14867 14108 13600 13388 13299 13264

Transylvania 33087 33725 35806 37287 38768 40250 41434

Tyrrell 4415 4219 4260 4261 4259 4259 4261

Union 202110 219243 242657 272641 302410 332101 355872

Vance 45301 45006 46142 46695 46944 47058 47099

Wake 906882 1006139 1109883 1217614 1328336 1439485 1528450

Last updated  November 15, 2019

County July 2010 July 2015 July 2020 July 2025 July 2030 July 2035 July 2039

Population Overview, 2010-2039

Population

Warren 20981 20603 19898 19342 18885 18505 18247

Washington 13135 12527 11987 11572 11159 10743 10412

Watauga 50967 53780 58731 62886 67043 71201 74525

Wayne 122900 125217 126606 130513 134419 138324 141448

Wilkes 69270 69446 70490 71933 73377 74822 75974

Wilson 81285 81217 82675 85139 87939 90824 93148

Yadkin 38434 37730 38236 38352 38392 38405 38410

Yancey 17806 17932 18794 19642 20488 21336 22013 STATE 9574293 10033079 10630691 11233133 11836070 12439269 12919921

Source: North Carolina OSBM, Standard Population Estimates, Vintage 2018 and Population Projections, Vintage 2019

Last updated  November 15, 2019