Cleveland has worst decline among nation’s biggest cities

Columbus and Cincinnati are the only two among the state’s six biggest cities that increased population.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Hurt by manufacturing job losses, Cleveland had the largest population decline among the nation’s big cities in the past year and the second-worst percentage drop since 2000, trailing only Hurricane Katrina-devastated New Orleans.

Among Ohio’s six biggest cities, only Columbus and Cincinnati managed increases since 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in population estimates released Thursday.

Cleveland’s population dipped 1.1 percent from 443,109 in 2006 to 438,042 last year, the biggest numerical drop among big U.S. cities, the Census Bureau said. The city’s 8.3 percent drop from 2000’s 477,472 was the second greatest rate decline in the nation, behind only New Orleans.

From 2006 to 2007, Columbus rose 0.6 percent to 747,755 and Cincinnati was up 0.2 percent to 332,458. Ohio’s other big cities were population losers: Akron down 0.7 percent, Dayton 0.8 percent and Toledo 0.9 percent.

For the 2000-2007 period, Columbus was up 4.9 percent and Cincinnati was up 0.4 percent with the other big Ohio cities declining: Akron down 4.2 percent, Toledo 6 percent and Dayton 6.5 percent.

Ken Silliman, chief of staff to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, who was visiting the city’s sister city of Rouen, France, said high-profile projects including $1 billion in hospital construction and $500 million for a riverfront development would improve the city’s image and reverse the population decline.

“Not immediately, but over time we expect that it will,” he said.

After speaking Wednesday in Cleveland at the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council Forum, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said Ohio cities near Lake Erie could see a population surge rather than a decline.

“Perhaps in the not too distant future, people are going to be leaving arid areas of this country, the New Mexicos and the Arizonas,” he said. “They’ll come running back to Ohio, because we have water, and they’re going to be thirsty.”

But Strickland recognized that some Ohio cities must make more immediate progress to stem population loss.

“I believe we have not fully or adequately engaged in the kind of planning that would discourage population loss,” he said. “Some cities and have done it successfully, a city like Portland, Ore., which has in place certain standards that discourage urban sprawl and encourage investments in the city.”

In Cincinnati, Mayor Mark Mallory was unhappy with the estimate and said he was prepared to challenge the data “even if it’s only one person short of what we think it should be.” He said the accuracy of the data was important for several reasons, including how federal aid is allocated and how companies make retailing decisions.

In Avon, 18 miles west of Cleveland along the Interstate 90 corridor, the population has grown 46 percent from 2000 to last year’s estimate of 16,717. About half the newcomers moved from out-of-state, attracted by good schools and new homes, Mayor James A. Smith said.

Smith said Cleveland’s dwindling population was a concern because the region depends on the city as its focus. “It’s scary. You still have to have a nucleus,” he said.

Columbus, home to state government jobs and Ohio State University, one of the largest colleges in the U.S., has a stable economy, said Mike Brown, the city’s urban ventures coordinator.

The housing slump has slowed Columbus’ growth, but the city continues to work on redevelopment projects that have led to residents moving downtown for the first time in 50 years, Brown said. About 5,000 condominium or apartment units have been built — or are being developed — downtown, he said.

In Dayton, city spokesman Tom Biedenharn said the decline reflected population losses across the region. He said the city has been trying to stem population losses by reducing foreclosures and stimulating economic development.

Toledo’s population dipped below 300,000 two years ago for the first time since the 1940s. Some city leaders think it’s not that low because more houses and apartments have been built than demolished over the last five years.