What? Jackson County, MO added more residents than Johnson County, KS in pat two years? (Independence: lofts, homes)

[kcmo]

What? Jackson County, MO added more residents than Johnson County, KS in past two years?

Population Estimates (http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/CO-EST2009-01.html - broken link)

So the new census numbers are out for the 2009 population estimates so I thought I would look and see how KC areas counties are doing. By the way, the Metro KC area is now near 2.1 million (not including Lawrence or St Joe). These are estimates by the census which will be updated officially this year of course.

Jackson County
2007 685,246
2008 700,699
2009 705,708
added 20,462 since 2007

Johnson County
2007 525,938
2008 535,000
2009 542,737
added 16,799 since 2007

But I find it quite amazing that Jackson is now growing faster than Johnson (seems to be a recent trend). Even though Jackson has fast growing suburbs and a rebounding Downtown KCMO, much of KCMO in Jackson is still loosing people (or so I assumed) so for Jackson to add more people than Johnson is quite surprising. I would assume that Johnson inside the 435 beltway is now losing people.

KC area core county populations as of 2009

Jackson 705,708
Cass 100,184
Clay 228,358
Platte 90,688
(Northland now at 320k)

Johnson 542,737
Wyandotte 155,085
Leavenworth 75,227
Douglas 116,383

[RjRobb2]

I think the resurgence of downtown has a lot to do with his. All the new lofts near P&L and the City Market has likely really helped this numbers. I have a few friends from the Northland who have moved down there recently.

[OneKC]

I'd be interested in seeing where this growth is taking place. I'd guess Lee's Summit and Grain Valley/Oak Grove is fueling a lot of it, which really isn't a good thing when you're talking about sprawl in the area.

Same goes for JoCo. Its south Overland Park, west Lenexa and Gardner fueling their growth while the inner ring suburbs continue to lose population.

[kcmo]

I think it also has to do with the fact that KCMO south of the river is booming in some areas (plaza, river market, downtown etc) while other areas have finally stabilized or at least are losing far less people after decades of extreme population loss.

While at the same time, JoCo may be at the beginning stages of population loss in its older suburbs inside of 435 (something Jackson County has been dealing with for decades), so much of the future growth in JoCo may be offset by losses inside of 435, much like Jackson County.

Lee's Summit is adding people, but so is Blue Springs and even Independence. Plus Grain Valley etc. Yea sprawl is bad, but I think this is good news for KCMO (inside Jackson County) and Independence. Maybe they are turning a corner.

[northbound74]

Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, and Oak Grove are booming while all the others are holding steady. Any lost in east KC is offset by those leaving that part of town for Raytown, Grandview and west Independence. Then there's the impressive growth of downtown itself. Since I've lived here, Jackson County has never struck me as having stagnant growth or even slower growth than other parts of the metro.

[OneKC]

Originally Posted by kcmo

But I find it quite amazing that Jackson is now growing faster than Johnson

Actually, according to your numbers, Johnson County is growing at a 3.0% rate, Jackson at a 2.9% rate. So Johnson is growing faster.

[kcmo]

Details details .

This should at least put to bed all the talk of Johnson County becoming the largest county in the metro.

Let's see, at 0.1%, JoCo should pass JaCo in about 2890?

This is not about JoCo though. This is about JaCo, a county that is half urban with a LOT of blight problems etc. JoCo "should" be blowing JaCo out of the water when it comes to raw and percent growth because JoCo is entirely suburban and should have far less negative stats offsetting the positive stats.

I think this is a combination of things happing at once.

The bad areas of KCMO south of the river have finally bottomed out and are stabilizing.
The area of KCMO between the River and Brookside is still very strong and adding more people.
Inner ring suburbs like Raytown and Grandview have also stopped losing people and last I heard, were actually gaining again and young families are moving back.
Independence while growing out east has taken some drastic chances to improve that city's west side like bringing KCMO schools into the Indep district.
Lee's Summit continues to boom while Blue Springs is seeing a second wind it has not seen since the 1980's
Exurbs like Grain Valley are booming.

This combined with extreme recent growth in the Northland has cut deep into growth in Johnson County as people have far more choices now than they did only 10-15 years ago when it was pretty much JoCo and maybe Lee's Summit.

And once again, JoCo inside of 435 is at the beginning stages of inner ring suburban flight and the blight that goes with it. It will take a lot of effort to slow that process down (Prairie Village and Mission are trying hard), but it may be impossible to avoid it all together. JoCo gets to learn from other's though.

The same is happing here in DC with suburban counties that just ten years ago seemed untouchable. 20 year old strip malls and single family homes are coming down and high density developments are planned to replace them, but there is no transit in JoCo to support such development, so much of the county will have to ride out a full cycle of urban decline and suburban redevelopment, which could take many decades.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by kcmo

And once again, JoCo inside of 435 is at the beginning stages of inner ring suburban flight and the blight that goes with it. It will take a lot of effort to slow that process down (Prairie Village and Mission are trying hard), but it may be impossible to avoid it all together. JoCo gets to learn from other's though.

ROFL You never quit, do you? You are always good for a laugh kcmo ...

I'm wondering what the "the beginning stages of inner ring suburban flight and the blight" looks like.

Highest property values? Revitalized intersections of major streets? People jumping at the chance to update and take care of their homes with support of local govs?

Sounds AWFUL!!!!

By the way, what is this "talk of Johnson County becoming the largest county in the metro" stuff about? Was there a contest that I missed?

[OneKC]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Details details .

This is not about JoCo though.

That's funny because you mention Johnson County seventeen times in three posts.

Can't we just be happy that the two most prominent counties in our metro area continue to grow (while other rust belt cities continue to lose population) You didn't even mention that Cass and Clay counties are growing even more rapidly. I really don't get the pissing contest.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by OneKC

That's funny because you mention Johnson County seventeen times in three posts.

Can't we just be happy that the two most prominent counties in our metro area continue to grow (while other rust belt cities continue to lose population) You didn't even mention that Cass and Clay counties are growing even more rapidly. I really don't get the pissing contest.

The people in the "Rust Belt" tend to be much more friendly and open all the way down to the Ohio Valley. I can't say the same for KC.