Smart Decline vs. Smart Growth

While America continues to grow at a fast rate, some older more urban cities have declined in population. For example, Richmond VA, has lost over 50,000 residents in the last 35 years. And according to the US Census 11 of the 100 largest US cities fifty years ago now have less than 100,000 residents. There are a couple of factors that have led to this decline, primarily the use of automobile transportation and the incredible growth of suburbs.

Few Utah cities are addressing issues of population decline (however, there are some), but I found this article in USA Today interesting: As Older Cities Shrink, Some Reinvent Themselves. Ther article quotes Terry Schwarz, senior planner at Kent State University's Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio, "Everybody's talking about smart growth, but nobody is talking about smart decline, there's nothing that says that a city that has fewer people in it has to be a bad place."

Portrait of the Average American

The Census Bureau just released their 2007 Statistical Abstract. The abstract contains over 1,300 tables creating a fascinating portrait of what Americans look like (fascinating to those who love data and tables). Here are some interesting results from the Census Bureau data:

• Americans are the most overweight people on the planet
• Average American consumes 52 gallons of soda a year and 23 gallons of bottled water
• Average American spends 4 ½ hours a day watching TV; 50 minutes a day reading the newspaper.
• 68% of American households have cable TV, up from 19% in 1980
• 207 million have cell phones, only 5 million in 1990
• In 2005, 75% or college freshman said their primary objective was to be financially very well off
• In 1970, 79% said their goal was developing a meaningful philosophy of life
• In 1980 only 12% of doctors were women, today 27% are.
• 25% of households under the age of 25 own homes up from 8.5% from 1985
  
• Of those Americans with Internet access:
• 97 million get their news online
• 91 million buy or make travel reservations
• 39 million read someone else’s blog
• 13 million created their own blog

Check here to read a recent New York Times article quoting Robert Putnam regarding this data. You might remember Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone, who spoke at our 2004 Annual Conference. Oh and I must note (due to my Idaho heritage) that potatoes still remain the most consumed vegetable by Americans.

What about expenses Tad?

According to a recent article in the Deseret News, written by Tad Walch (Utah County bureau chief) Utah's cities and towns are flush with cash. However, Tad does not once in his article mention the rising expenditures that are often linked to a growing economy and society. For example, with growth come increased infrastructure needs.

True, Utah's cities and towns are benefiting from a booming statewide economy (like the State govt) however, this strong economy is not occurring with static service needs. According to a recent Utah League of Cities and Towns survey responding cities indicated the following:

• 91% report an increase infrastructure need from FY05 to FY06
• 44% anticipate a significant increase of infrastructure spending needed FY07
• 86% report an increase cost of employee benefits for FY06
• 73% report increase service needs for new development for FY06

These statistics illustrate the challenges that many cities and towns are faced with. Can cities better address these challenges during good economic times? Definitely. But does that mean cities and towns are flush with cash? Definitely not.