PAGOSA SPRINGS—More people moved into Colorado last year than moved out, continuing the State’s trend of population growth. In 2018, approximately 239,000 people were attracted to Colorado and just over 203,000 people left, for a net gain of about 36,000, according to the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) estimates released October 31st. In […]
Getting Ahead of the Aging Curve
Preparing for Demographic Change in Rural America Reprinted from the Small Town & Rural Planning newsletter, Fall 2016. The other night, Planning Commission was looking at demographics in our rural county of about 12,000, with a touch of skepticism. Archuleta County grew rapidly during the last boom, and fell hard in the housing bust. Nobody […]
Mega-polis Times 10
The U.S. Census Bureau has released current population estimates for U.S. cities and towns. Their PR: Ten U.S. Cities Now Have 1 Million People or More Half the Top 10 Gainers This Year in Texas San Jose, Calif., is now among the 10 U.S. cities with a population of 1 million or more, according to […]
Livability Index: AARP Contributes a Tool Box of Community Indicators
If you create a city that’s good for an 8 year old and good for an 80 year old, you will create a successful city for everyone. — 8-80 Cities A well-designed place works for all of its residents, from the youngest family to the eldest veteran. We seem to have forgotten that in our […]
Rural America is Growing—Except Where It Isn’t
The Bakken is booming. New US Census Bureau population estimates indicate that 7 out of the dozen fastest growing counties in the United States over the last four years are in the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana. Yes, large metro counties (Harris County, Texas; Los Angeles County, California; Maricopa County, Arizona) gained the greatest […]
Gen X: Stuck in the Middle with Me
Pew Research Center posted an interesting look at my fellow travelers in “Generation X”. We’re the 34-49 year-olds sandwiched between the younger Boomers and older Millenials, both oversized and over-covered in the media. We are, they point out, the middle child of the modern demography. Gen Xers have also gotten the short end of basic generational […]
Talking About the Economic Census
An interesting video bit of PR from the Census Bureau on the 2012 Economic Census: [v=SVns8dKcBrE] How folks in business, economic and political leaders use economic statistics. A bit geeky, like dancing about architecture… .
2012 Economic Census First Look
We’re getting an advance view of the US Census Bureau’s 2012 Economic Census results. The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector of the economy showed tremendous growth from 2007 to 2012 as the number of establishments rose by 26.4 percent, according to the 2012 Economic Census Advance Report released [March 26] by the U.S. Census Bureau. […]
Symposium on Small Towns Set for June
The Center for Small Towns of the University of Minnesota at Morris presents an excellent conference each spring on small town and rural issues. This is where I met Ben Winchester for the first time and started learning about his work (now with Extension) on rural migration. I really wish I could make it back […]
Back to the Buffalo Commons
After years of outmigration, people are moving back to the Great Plains, the vast dry expanse of prairie once discounted as the Great American Desert. Today our desert is giving Middle East deserts a run for their oil money with fast-moving shale plays opening up new opportunities in the heart of North America. The US […]