WESTERN PA. Census has its ups and downs

A Hermitage official is 'double shocked' and disappointed with the results.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
Lawrence County, Pa., Commissioner Brian Burick is interested in the little census number, not the big one.
The big one is 94,643, not quite the 95,000 people needed to keep the county in the same comparison class as it has been for decades.
Rather, Burick comes back to the little 1.7 percent number, and it gives him hope. That's the percentage of population the county lost between 1990 and 2000, according to federal census figures released Friday.
He's encouraged about the dip because that number pales compared to the 11 percent drop the 1990 census showed for the county.
Burick hopes the new numbers mean that the drop-off has leveled out and that the 2010 census will show Lawrence growing again.
"I was hoping it would be above," he said. "I'm concerned about it ... but it's no major surprise."
Burick worked closely with census officials during the count, and he estimated the county would fall between 94,000 and 95,000.
Pennsylvania counties are divided by population into eight classes for comparison purposes, such as budgets. Lawrence has been a fifth-class county for decades.
Reclassified: The county automatically becomes reclassified into the sixth class if the population stays under 95,000 in the 2010 census.
The ramifications are more about pride than about finances, Burick said. Still, officials don't want to lose the fifth-class distinction, he said.
"Perception is a big part of it," he said.
Elsewhere: Other curious Lawrence County numbers released include a population drop of 16.4 percent in Wayne Township and a 11.9 percent increase in Wilmington Township.
That reflects the trend of people moving from older townships to newer ones, Burick said.
A 25.7 percent population drop in Volant is because private residences there continue turning into commercial business, he said.
Then, there's the borough of SNPJ. Census figures show a 100 percent decline in population -- nobody living there.
The borough, incorporated just for a Slovenian festival, used to have up to 12 residents.
A few probably still live there, but may not call the borough home, Burick said. That would account for the number, or lack of one, he said.
"It's a matter of where they list their residence," he said.
Mercer County: Meanwhile in Mercer County, William Scanlon, Hermitage city commissioner president, is shocked and disappointed.
In January he declared that he expected census numbers to show his city would edge out Sharon as the county's largest. But the figures show Hermitage 171 residents short of Sharon's 16,328.
Hermitage officials thought the city would come out on top in 1990, too, and were shocked to find that Sharon was still larger.
Scanlon described himself as "double shocked" when he saw the 2000 numbers Saturday.
He remains convinced Hermitage has more residents, considering its new subdivisions, and said a special census may be needed. The board will have to talk about whether that's worth pursuing, he said.
Friendly rivalry: Sharon Mayor Robert Price said his city has had a friendly rivalry with Hermitage the past two censuses and it's a good feeling to come out ahead again.
Price said he'll need to see the final numbers to explain Sharon's 6.7 percent loss in population before he can determine the financial impact. The city, he said, did lose some residents to the suburbs and has little land available for new home construction.
To draw attention to the need to have every person counted, Price arranged visits to grade schools and free "I want to be counted" T-shirts for the children, who wore them home and encouraged their parents to fill out the census forms.
Churches also put census information in weekly bulletins, he said.
"My plan of action was to get people to understand how important this was, and they did," Price said. "For every person not counted, it's a loss of $790 in federal money."
To thank those who made the plan work, a free spaghetti dinner is being held at Sharon High School cafeteria from noon to 3 p.m. today.
Other large changes in Mercer County include Fairview Township, which gained 13.6 percent; the city of Farrell, which lost 11.6 percent; Jamestown, which lost 16.4 percent; Sheakleyville, which gained 13.1 percent; and Wolf Creek Township, which gained 11.6 percent.
Commissioner Olivia Lazor said the population increases in rural places like Fairview and Sheakleyville likely occurred because of new housing developments.
She added that the numbers that will affect county government -- specific districts -- won't be released until April. If the population shift is not too major, things should stay status quo, she said.
"I want to see the hard numbers to see how it affects us," she said. "We had been hoping for an increase."