Apex was named the number one boomtown in North Carolina by GOBankingRates.com, a personal finance website. In its October 30, 2024, report, GOBankingRates wrote that boomtowns are defined as fast-growing cities, due to rapid business and population growth.
To create the list of top boomtowns in each state, analysts for the website focused on places with populations between 25,000 and 500,000. Using data from the U.S. government and other sources, they studied trends in housing, income and population growth since 2014.
I sat down with Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert to get his take on what being named the number one boomtown in North Carolina means for Apex.
“It’s really cool for Apex to receive accolades in general. They are coming more often, which I think explains where we are with Apex. I like to give honor to those who were good stewards of our town, well before I came here. They were fiscally responsible, they were looking long term and planning. And I think what we are experiencing today are the benefits of those who looked out for Apex,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert grew up here, served in the police department until 2019 and is now in his second term as mayor. Asked if the Apex of his youth conjures up thoughts of this kind of success, of being named a boomtown. He simply said no.
“But here we are. I’m proud as a native and the mayor,” he shared.
Boomtown or not, challenges will always exist. It’s the nature of the beast. That doesn’t mean Mayor Gilbert and the town leadership aren’t up to the challenge. Whether it’s housing, affordability, growth, roads or economic development, the mayor and the team he so highly regards are ready. One thing you learn pretty early on with Gilbert is his reliance on and understanding that success often comes via networking, relationship building and through mutually beneficial partnerships.
“I have shared a lot of time and had a lot of conversations with other mayors and other town leaders. I’m happy to be a part of working together and identifying challenges so we can solve them together. Additionally, we can’t look at builders and developers as an adversary. We need to sit down and work on establishing relationships. Everyone should have a seat at the table,” he said.
Gilbert said that officials are elected to make decisions, some hard, some unpopular and some not immediately embraced, because as Gilbert noted, change is hard. He then listed several recent changes to Apex including the skate plaza, the downtown social district and the resumption of construction on the Southwest Peakway Connector. He did this, in my opinion, to underscore how the road to becoming a boomtown is not easy and is often paved with hard decisions, tough choices and a lot of consensus building.
“We’re going to expect that anyone who wants to work with us knows who we are, where we come from and what our goals are. Once we create partnerships that way, we are going to be just fine. And we’ll continue to thrive.”
Gilbert said that Apex leadership is much smarter now. He said that while those who came before him anticipated growth, it was not on the order that we saw in 2015. Going forward, it’s no longer a question about what Apex needs. Such questions must now be broader in scale.
“Here are the challenges for Southwest Wake County, or for the state: We have to look at the challenges as a region. Things like affordability and transportation. Apex can’t handle these alone. It really becomes a strength-in-numbers pursuit. We have to do it together,” he said.
Going forward, Gilbert said they will continue to focus on how to improve life for residents but also, how to improve the overall economic outlook of the town. The way to achieve both high-level goals is through the building of productive and mutually beneficial relationships. To do this, he emphasized that politics has no place in town management or town government.
“If you are working for your party instead of your town, your town is going to lose. You need to work for your town, and that’s what I do,” he said.
As for 2025, Gilbert couldn’t be specific, but he is clearly excited by what’s to come.
“We thought we reached a peak,” he laughed, “but knowing what’s in the pipeline, it’s a bright future for Apex. I want to make sure that what I do today and the decisions I make — that 10 to 15 years down the road they say, ‘Jacques Gilbert looked out for us.’”
