Since Google Earth and Google Maps’ satellite view became available a number of years ago they’ve put at users’ fingertips a look at the world that had previously not been anywhere near as readily available.
More recently thanks to decades worth of historical satellite images they’ve been able to use the same platform to give folks a look at how any given part of the globe has changed over a 35 year span. With the timelapse animations from those 35 years made available on mobile devices just last year, it’s given the average user a quick and easy glimpse at how regions of the planet and city have changed and Brandon is no exception.
Blink and you’ll miss it but in the embed below you’ll see a city over the course of six different Mayors pushing its boundaries primarily to the South as it grows in population by about 1/3 (press the play button to start. If it doesn't fit your screen very well you can also use this link):
Brandon in 1982 was 36,343 people strong. Most recently in the 2016 census 48,859 residents were recorded making it a very real possibility that more than 50,000 folks now call the city home.
The full searchable Google Timelapse feature can be seen at https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/
Photo credit: Google Earth