The Republic Staff and Wire Reports
Many of the factory towns that have long been among Indiana’s largest cities continue to lose residents as suburban communities — especially near Indianapolis — are booming, new population estimates show.
U.S. Census Bureau figures released Thursday found that Evansville had one of the nation’s largest percentage drops in population among cities with at least 100,000 people, while Carmel became the first suburb to crack the list of the state’s 10 largest cities.
Patrick Barkey, director of economic and policy studies at Ball State University, called the shift away from older metropolitan areas “fringe growth” that’s fueled by rising incomes.
“They want more land,” he said. “They want bigger houses. They want a place to park three or four cars.”
Of the 50 largest cities in Indiana, Columbus was the second slowest growing of the 22 cities that gained residents, adding 186 residents, or a growth rate of almost half a percentage point according to the Census estimates.
Other nearby cities that showed growth included:
Franklin 1,738
Seymour 594
Shelbyville was the only area city on the list to lose residents, giving up 141 residents.
The new estimates account for changes in municipal boundaries from the 2000 census.
The Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, with 58,198 residents, has grown more than 14 percent since 2000. Fishers — the state’s 13th largest community, with 54,330 residents — has grown nearly 43 percent in the same period.
“People have realized that they like the atmosphere, education level and quality of life in Carmel and prefer to work, live and raise their families in this type of community,” Carmel Mayor James C. Brainard said.
Evansville’s population declined by nearly 4 percent — the eighth largest decrease in the nation among the country’s biggest cities.
The city’s population declined to 117,156 in 2004 from 121,582 in 2000. But Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said the numbers may be misleading.
“Although there may be fewer people living in the city, those people aren’t necessarily leaving Vanderburgh County or the area,” he said. “While we’ve seen population shifts where people live, the boundaries in the city will expand to take in that growth.”
Ed Durkee, director of leadership programs with the Indiana Humanities Council, said the new census data paint a picture of a way of life that’s going away.
“That’s always true in history,” he said. “We used to have cowboys and now we have truck drivers.”
The central Indiana city of Anderson lost about 3 percent of its population in the past four years. That decrease knocked the city out as one of the state’s 10 largest communities.
Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith said he wasn’t surprised about the population shift. But, he said, don’t count his city out.
“It’s a tough little community,” he said. “It’s very tenacious.”
Portions © 2005, The Republic, Columbus, Indiana