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McLean County population continues to grow

Posted July 06, 2007 11:00 pm

MATT BUEDEL

McLean County's population grew by an estimated 7.2 percent from 2000 to 2006, according to the most recent census estimates. The growth fits the Twin Cities' trend and isn't surprising.

But compare the U.S. Census Bureau's estimated population for Bloomington in 2006 to the same agency's special census of the same city for the same year, and there's certainly a mystery.

According to the estimate, Bloomington had 70,970 residents as of July 1, 2006, a 9.5 percent increase over the actual population count performed in 2000. In reality, the spike has been more like 16 percent.

"We just did a special census a year ago, and our population was just a tick under 75,000," said Bloomington City Manager Tom Hamilton. "The trend is still the same, there's just a steeper curve."

In addition to the confluence of interstates and other transportation modes that have traditionally drawn businesses and people to Bloomington and Normal, Hamilton said a more robust economy in both cities has maintained their momentum.

"It used to be the community grew as State Farm grew, but that's not the case anymore," he said. "Now there's more diversity."

And the growth has spilled over into one outlying community, helping it buck the trend of smaller towns elsewhere in the area that are slowly losing their residents. Hudson, off Interstate 39 about five miles north of Normal, is projected to have grown by more than 14 percent over the same six years.

"We have had a large surge of construction in the last few years and it just seems like our lots are not on the market for any time," said Hudson Village Board member Denise Sue Lappin.

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