Number of people in Valley declines

The city of Columbiana gained
143 people in a year.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Close to 1,000 people who lived in Youngstown on July 1, 2005, no longer called the city home a year later, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The city’s population July 1, 2006, was 81,519, a 1.2 percent decline from a year earlier, according to figures officially released today by the bureau.

With population declines from New England to the Midwest, Youngstown’s loss isn’t that bad, said Thomas Finnerty, associate director of Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies.

“Losing that small amount is a victory,” he said. “We are in a region where population loss is common because there isn’t enough employment. The whole Great Lakes region is experiencing this and has for years.”

In comparison, Cleveland’s population loss between 2005 and 2006 was 1.4 percent, Canton’s was 0.6 percent and Akron’s was 0.5 percent for the same time period.

Youngstown’s loss

Also, the population loss for Youngstown between July 2000 and July 2006 was 2.5 percent. Between 1990 and 2000, Youngstown saw its population decline by 14.3 percent.

The decreased percentage of population loss so far this decade compared with the 1990s shows some stability in the city, said Anthony Kobak, Youngstown’s chief city planner.

Kobak wouldn’t be surprised to see the city’s population continue to decrease, but says it should only drop by a few more thousand people at most.

“It won’t be like the losses we’ve had in the past,” he said.

The Youngstown 2010 comprehensive development plan calls for specific growth in certain parts of Youngstown as well as plans to shrink other areas of the city to best use its land assets. Also, there are a number of housing development projects in the works that will help stimulate population growth in the city, Kobak said.

“Those projects will take a few years to take hold so I’m not too concerned with this current figure,” he said. “I’m curious what the 2010 number will be.”

Other areas

While Youngstown led the region with a population decline of 991 people, other communities in the five-county Mahoning and Shenango valleys lost residents in 2006 compared with the previous year.

Warren lost 414 residents, Boardman lost 362 people, Austintown’s population dropped by 314, and New Castle, Pa., lost 265 people.

Communities considered growth areas like Cortland, Howland, Canfield city and township, Poland village and township, and Springfield Township saw minor population decreases.

Beaver Township increased its population by 1 person, the number of residents in Hermitage, Pa., increased by 28, and Green and Jackson townships each added 13 people.

At the top of the list of population growth in the area was the city of Columbiana in Columbiana County with an increase of 143 people. Columbiana city officials couldn’t be reached to comment.

Population numbers

The Census Bureau released county population numbers in March that showed the five-county Mahoning and Shenango valleys lost 4,740 people from July 2005 to July 2006. Youngstown made up 21 percent of that amount.

The bureau’s population estimates are calculated using administrative records such as birth and death certificates as well as building permit data.

The bureau receives updated information each year, leading to typically minor changes to population estimates from previous years, such as changing Youngstown’s 2005 population from 82,836 (reported June 2006) to 82,510 (reported today).

But there are instances when the original numbers are significantly incorrect. The bureau’s 2004 initial population estimate of 77,713 for Youngstown (reported in June 2005) was changed in June 2006 to 83,906.

“The numbers aren’t terribly accurate,” Finnerty said of the census figures.

skolnick@vindy.com