The US Census Bureau came out with some new rankings overnight for the country's fastest growing cities and two Wake County municipalities are ranked in the top ten.

Cary took the third spot on the list, while Raleigh came in at number eight.

Cary has a reputation of growing fast, and the new rankings certainly play up to that.

Leaders in the business community say it's a mix of factors, not the least of which is the attraction of Research Triangle Park.

"This market is still very strong, very positive, still building off of the park," said Howard Johnson, president of Cary's Chamber of Commerce.

"Not only Cary, but other Triangle communities, are still healthy," added Susan Moran, with the Town of Cary. "And that's what growth means to us."

The census estimates there was a 6.9 percent jump in Cary from 2007 to 2008; that's an increase of almost 8,400 people.

That number will likely drop a little next year.

"We've got 50 percent less development, if you measure from May to May, than we had last year," Moran said.

For a while now, the town has focused on five year averages, rather than looking at individual peaks and valleys; and for now Cary is still growing at a rate that town leaders want, even with a change in the political climate of town hall with the election of Harold Weinbrecht, a slow-growth proponent.

"This council has been focused on taking very measured, deliberate steps at managing growth -- not stopping growth," Moran said.

And even with "slow growth" groups like DavisandHighHouse.org making waves, Town Hall hopes to see progress every year.

"The worst thing that could happen is to have no growth," Moran said. "Because then existing citizens will have to pay lots and lots of taxes to pay for existing services."

Moran says it's easy for Cary to rank high in growth rankings, especially if the rest of the country is having trouble staying even.

Cary officials are quick to point out that despite being the third-fastest growing community in the country, they're also ranked as the third safest.

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