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March 30, 2001Cities' losses are townships' gainsCommunities adjacent to urban areas struggle to handle growing influx of newcomersBy BILL ECHLINRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Most cities in northwest Lower Michigan are losing population or barely holding their own while their surrounding townships, with more room to build, are booming. The pattern was well known before the release Tuesday of the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau figures for the state, but the trend is now laid out in fine detail: Between 1990 and 2000 the populations of Traverse City, Cadillac, Charlevoix, Frankfort and Manistee all dropped. Petoskey added a scant 24 people to eke out a 0.4 percent gain, the same growth rate as Grayling's. The only major exceptions were Cheboygan, Gaylord and East Jordan, where populations grew significantly over the past decade. Meanwhile, outlying townships around each of those cities are seeing huge gains. "The growth has been a shock," said beleaguered Paradise Township Clerk Jessi Sedlacek. Her township had a stunning 67.1-percent gain, swelling the population by 1,683 people for a total of 4,191. The village of Kingsley next door saw an even more impressive gain, adding 731 people over the past decade for a total of 1,469, a 10-year growth rate of 99.1 percent. "We're seeing a lot more demands for services and it will all be very difficult to keep up with things," Sedlacek said. "It's a daily battle. The small township is going to be facing higher bills from Grand Traverse County for fire protection, the assessor is working extra long days trying to keep up with all the new properties being created and homes popping up, and the township may even have to split into two voting precincts, doubling election costs. Even the traditional spring and fall trash cleanup programs may have to be reduced to once a year because the volume of trash - and the cost of its disposal - is rising so fast, Sedlacek said. "It's true our tax base is going up, but because of truth-in-taxation laws, we can't raise them as quickly as the value of properties goes up, so our revenue isn't going up as fast as our demands for services," she said. Because county commissioner district lines will be redrawn to reflect the shift of populations to outlying areas, outlying townships like hers will probably gain more clout on the county board. "We do like that," she said. "That, at least, is good news." Sedlacek probably speaks for her counterparts in rural and urbanizing townships all over the north, like Cherry Grove near Cadillac, up 32 percent; Charlevoix Township near the city of Charlevoix, up 67 percent; Elmira in Benzie County that is fast becoming a bedroom community to Traverse City, up 94 percent; Springdale near Manistee, up 46.6 percent; and Bear Creek near Petoskey, up 51.9 percent. "It's a real struggle and raises problems like our brand new school, set to open next fall," Sedlacek said. "It may already be too small, but how do you go back and ask for more millage when the voters just approved an increase two years ago?" For the shrinking cities, the shift is fraught with problems, including reduced clout with county boards in battles over who pays for what, and how to expand a tax base to keep up with rising costs. In Cadillac there are issues of who contributes how much to a county recreation program, with the city arguing its residents, about a third of the county's total population, are already double-dipped taxwise, paying both city and county taxes. Then there is the need to extend sewer services to where the people are. The city has the ability to provide sewer services but demands those receiving them live within the city limits or agree to be annexed to the city. Townships around the city tend to balk at that, said city director of administrative services Precia Emmons, but they also usually lack the resources to provide the waste treatment services themselves. Gerry Harsch, planner for Garfield Township adjacent to Traverse City, said the stark contrast between the decline in Traverse City's population and the growth in his township means a lot more than bragging rights. Garfield, which grew by 3,324 people for a 31.6-percent growth rate over the past 10 years, is now within 543 people of equaling Traverse City's population. Because Garfield still has room to grow while Traverse City is virtually built up, it won't be long before Garfield becomes the larger community, he said. The reasons cities are losing population, Harsch said, are not hard to figure out. For years the number of people per household has been declining. There are more single head-of-household families, people are marrying later and tend to have smaller families, and the population in general is aging. So, in a city where the amount of housing is stable or actually shrinking because of commercialization, he said, the actual number of people will decline. Meanwhile in the suburbs, where there is room to build and land is cheaper, there are more houses. This more than offsets the decline in average household size. "Then there is the trend of people coming up into the area and buying seasonal homes, claiming their main residence is somewhere else," he said. "That means falling populations for the city." Garfield, like Paradise and other fast-growing townships, faces all the issues of needing more police protection, health services, roads, schools - "the whole nine yards," he said. For Traverse City manager Richard Lewis, there will be yet more struggles over who will pay for all the things the core city provides, things that benefit all the county's residents, like parks. Lewis declined to comment on the specifics of the census figures because he had yet to see the details. He did say, however, that he was surprised at the decline of 733 people to 14,582 over the past decade. It was a continuation of a trend. In 1970 the city had 18,048 residents. "I would have thought we'd have had a gain with all the new housing built on Veteran's Drive and other places around the city," he said. "We'll have to look at what the shift is. What's changed? Do we have fewer kids? I can't answer that yet." Bill Echlin is the reporter for business and tourism. He can be reached at (231) 933-1493, or at bechlin@record-eagle.com Read more about the census: • 13-county region has grown 22 percent since 1990 count • Michigan’s top 10 population gainers, losers (map) • Michigan suburban migration accelerates • Region’s racial characteristics (chart) • Region’s population change (chart) • Cities' losses are townships' gains • Family enjoys life in small town • What's at stake with changing population • Large cities that lost or gained population (chart) • City and village populations (chart) • Quiet life entices familes to 'burbs • Native American numbers on rise • Aging citizens outpace younger generation • Population changes in region by county, city and township (chart) |
