The nation's housing downturn has spread to the fastest growing counties in the sunbelt, where most saw reduced domestic migration in the year ending July 1, 2007, while more rural counties experienced population losses.
"Torrid population growth rates in Sun Belt metropolitan areas from Florida to Arizona, Nevada and California have slowed amid a severe downturn in the nation's housing market, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census Bureau data (July, 2006 to July, 2007) released today."
"Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, says the new data reflect only "the front edge" of the housing crisis. "Next year at this time, I think you're going to see even more of a slowdown in domestic migration," he says.
"Bernard Markstein, senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, agrees the housing slump is a likely factor. The slowdown is particularly acute in Florida, where William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution, says "growth stopped on a dime." Population growth dropped from an average of nearly 1,000 new residents a day from 2000-06 to about 530 a day in the latest 12-month period."
"Nearly twice as many counties lost population this decade as during the 1990s; 85% of them are rural...in America's heartland," says Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau in Washington.
[Editor's note: see the color-coded map of county-by-county national population trends.]
FULL STORY: Housing crisis cools migration to former hot spots
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.