Sioux City Journal, IA
06-28-07
Sioux City's population grows
By Dan Gearino Journal Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES -- Sioux City gained nearly 200 residents last year, the largest
increase in a decade.
The population estimates were made public this morning by the Census Bureau.
The city had 83,262 residents last year, up 197 from the year before, which is a
0.2 percent gain. The last time the city grew this much was in 1996, when there
was 250-person increase.
Since 2000, the population has dropped 1,711, a growth rate of negative 2.1
percent.
Jeff Hanson, Sioux City's division manager for planning and neighborhood
services, said the population increase is evidence that the city's economic
development initiatives are working. "We are turning the corner, not just on
increasing residential population, but also increasing commercial activity," he
said.
Elsewhere in the region South Sioux City gained 159 residents, or 1.3 percent,
for a total of 12,137. North Sioux City gained 23 residents, or 0.9 percent, for a
total of 2,511.
Within Northwest Iowa, regional centers generally gained at the expense of rural
areas.
Sioux Center was up 1.7 percent to 6,611. Le Mars was up 0.5 percent to 9,363,
Spirit Lake was up 2.3 percent to 4,722 and Denison was up 0.7 percent to
7,422.
Among those on the decline was Storm Lake, down 0.1 percent to 9,882, and
Spencer, down 0.1 percent to 11,059.
Looking across the state, the biggest gainers were suburbs, such as Ankeny,
Johnston, Urbandale and West Des Moines in the Des Moines area, and Marion
in the Cedar Rapids area.
Ankeny, located just north of Des Moines, had 38,726 residents, a gain of 7.5
percent, which was the greatest percentage gain of any city over 20,000.
Iowa City and Mason City both lost 0.6 percent, which was the highest
percentage loss in this population category. Waterloo was close behind with 0.5
percent loss.
The state population grew 0.6 percent last year to 2,982,085, according to a
Census estimate released in December.
Heather MacDonald, professor of Urban Planning at the University of Iowa, said
the state and its largest cities continue to struggle with slow growth. She said the
rapid growth of the suburbs is because of a combination of baby boomers
relocating and young families buying their first homes.
"There's a part of the population that will always (choose the suburbs) as a home
ownership prospect. Even if it's not a detached home anymore, it's a home with
enough green space around it that you can bring up your kids with an outdoor
area," she said.
For urban areas, she attributes much of the growth to immigrants. "Without
continued international immigration, Iowa is going to be looking at a shrinking
population base," she said.
Cities located outside metropolitan areas shrank 2.2 percent, according to an
analysis by the Office of Social and Economic Trend Analysis at Iowa State
University. Nearly half of that loss occurred in non-metropolitan cities with fewer
than 2,500 residents.
Among the other notable items from the Census report, Maharishi Vedic City in
southern Iowa had by far the greatest growth rate, 70.8 percent, for a population
of 222. The greatest percentage loss in the state was in Hepburn in southwest
Iowa, where there were just 29 residents, down 21.6 percent from the previous
year.
For both of those cities, the numbers should be read as rough estimates. The
Census Bureau advises that the figures become less reliable the smaller the
population.
Dan Gearino can be reached at 515-243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net