This article suggests a slow trickle of population out of Cook County, and it also suggests that Chicago's population has declined from 2000 to 2004.
That being said, I have a few questions (if this is true). Even if Chicago's population stabilizes or slowly shrinks, isn't the city still doing great? After all, is the city better off with blue collar families or with millionaire singles and couples? That's the question that we must truly ask. Apparently, Chicago is transitioning from a city of producers to a city of consumers. I think we're better off as a city full of consumers because consumers want to be ENTERTAINED!!  And after all, consumers spend a lot more cash than producers do.
Not only that, but isn't it better that families are leaving the city because it's too expensive, rather than because it's too dirty, crime-ridden, and run-down? Hmmm, it's gotta make you wonder...
Anyway, Chicago's current boom confuses me. Is the city doing well or is this just a facade? Perhaps only history will tell. After all, even the current transit crisis tells us more about our society's values than about the health of the city, don't you think?
Either way, here's the article (Tribune):
Cook losing people, collar counties gaining
By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 15, 2005
Cook County lost more people between 2000 and 2004 than any county in the nation, according to estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau.
The new figures--based on administrative records and estimates for births, deaths and net migration--show the county lost nearly 49,000 people, or 0.9 percent, since the last official count in April 2000.
The largest-loser designation can partly be attributed to its massive size because raw numbers were used for the rankings. Still, among the nation's 10 largest counties, Cook County, with 5.3 million residents, was the only to record a population loss during the four-year period.
The suggestion that Cook County may be losing population runs against the perception of growth fueled by the large number of condominium projects that have sprouted across Chicago's skyline in recent years. But demographers say those buildings are often being inhabited by singles, couples and empty-nesters that are smaller in size than the families that are moving out.
As the area's central county recorded a loss, the news was more positive for the collar counties, where demographers say many of those who move from Cook County end up. The growth was especially strong in the metropolitan area's southwest section, where sprawl is booming.
Kendall County showed the nation's second-fastest percentage growth from 2003 to 2004, adding an estimated 8.3 percent, or about 5,500 people, in a single year. Since 2000, the estimates suggest the county has grown by 33 percent, adding 18,000 people and bringing the population to 72,548.
Will County, meanwhile, grew 4.8 percent from 2003 to 2004, adding more than 28,000 people and bringing the population to 613,849. That was a large enough jump to rank it among the top 10 counties nationally for numeric gain. It was the only county outside the nation's rapidly growing South and West to make that list.
The loss of Cook County population comes after it recorded a 5.3 percent population increase between 1990 and 2000, a period when the city of Chicago grew by 4 percent.
Kenneth Johnson, a demographer at Loyola University Chicago, said that during the four-year period the county recorded an influx of 188,000 immigrants, but also suffered a net loss of nearly 399,000 residents to other U.S. counties, resulting in an overall net loss of 211,000 people to migration.
Another factor used to build the population estimates, births versus deaths, showed a positive growth trend of more births than deaths. But the migration losses were enough to result in an overall loss of nearly 49,000 people.
"I think most of the loss is coming from the city," Johnson said, pointing to other census releases in the last couple years that have suggested declines for Chicago. "Whatever is going on, it may be accelerating a little bit."
A report Johnson published earlier this year using other census data showed suburban Cook's population remained essentially flat between 2000 and 2003.
Still, other demographers urged caution when examining the county numbers.
Marc Thomas, information services manager for the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, said some estimates in the 1990s showed the city losing population, a trend that proved false once the 2000 census was released.
"There are new housing units downtown," Thomas said. "But we really don't know what is going on in the other neighborhoods."
One thing that is clear, Thomas said, is the continued importance of immigrants in maintaining Cook County's population. "Cook County is relying on foreign immigration to prop it up," he said.
While DuPage and Lake Counties were once top destinations for people leaving Cook County, Thomas said Kendall and Will Counties now appear to be favored by those seeking affordable housing in the suburbs. "By and large, it is driven by people wanting newer and bigger as cheaply as possible," he said.
Thomas said Cook County also has a large number of Baby Boomers nearing retirement age. "The question will be where they go after retirement," he said.
Chicago officials said they had not examined the census data, but they discounted the notion that the city is losing population.
"The city is vibrant and is still attractive to people and is attracting people," said Connie Buscemi, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Planning and Development. "That's evident by the number of homes and residences that are being developed all throughout the city."
Among the nation's 10 largest counties, Maricopa County (Phoenix area) recorded the largest gain--14 percent--between 2000 and 2004. Los Angeles County, the nation's largest, grew by 4.4 percent.
Although Kendall and Will Counties were the only two in the metropolitan area to record population increases large enough to make the top census rankings, all of the collar counties added enough residents from 2003 to 2004 to be among the top half of U.S. counties for percentage gain.
West suburban Kane County recorded an estimated 3.1 percent increase in population, followed by McHenry County (2.7 percent), Lake County (1.6 percent) and DuPage County (0.5 percent).> |
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