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Old 12-22-2012, 12:50 AM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
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I was on another thread in another section and someone refrenced Louisville, which the nerd in me then Googles it to learn more about another random city and I come across a population explosion.

What happened between 2000 and 2010 to make the city's population go from 250K to 740K in 10 years? That is an insane jump in population in such a short period of time these days? Was the city under some massive building boom during that time that I never heard about?
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Old 12-22-2012, 03:47 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife78 View Post
I was on another thread in another section and someone refrenced Louisville, which the nerd in me then Googles it to learn more about another random city and I come across a population explosion.

What happened between 2000 and 2010 to make the city's population go from 250K to 740K in 10 years? That is an insane jump in population in such a short period of time these days? Was the city under some massive building boom during that time that I never heard about?
The city, which was only around 60 sq miles, merged with the county, which is 390 or so square miles. For city/county mergers, this is one of the smaller counties in land area. As an example, Jacksonville is around 900 sq miles and has nearly the same population.

That said, the city is actually growing at one of its fastest rates in decades. Let's examine some historical data

US Census 1900 (I think in the 19th century it was ranked as high as #12 largest, and this is of course counting a very small, dense urban area, not the merged city known as Louisville today)

1 New York city, NY *................ 3,437,202
2 Chicago city, IL................... 1,698,575
3 Philadelphia city, PA.............. 1,293,697
4 St. Louis city, MO................. 575,238
5 Boston city, MA.................... 560,892
6 Baltimore city, MD................. 508,957
7 Cleveland city, OH................. 381,768
8 Buffalo city, NY................... 352,387
9 San Francisco city, CA............. 342,782
10 Cincinnati city, OH................ 325,902

11 Pittsburgh city, PA *.............. 321,616
12 New Orleans city, LA............... 287,104
13 Detroit city, MI................... 285,704
14 Milwaukee city, WI................. 285,315
15 Washington city, DC................ 278,718
16 Newark city, NJ.................... 246,070
17 Jersey City city, NJ............... 206,433
18 Louisville city, KY................ 204,731
19 Minneapolis city, MN............... 202,718
20 Providence city, RI................ 175,597

As I have pointed out before, few people know that Louisville has historically been one of the largest and most important cities in the US. It has just flown under the radar since WWII, as it declined steadily until the 1990's, when growth began again, and it has now hit a mini "boom" in the last decade, more in line with its southern peers/neighbors.
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Old 12-22-2012, 08:25 PM
 
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It maybe the merger of the city and county in the past 10 years or so. Then again, we have many people from all over the world that has moved to Louisville for college, jobs or companies that have moved them here. Many areas that were either farm lands or undeveloped has been built new homes, more shopping to restaurants and etc which also brought more people here to live.
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Old 12-23-2012, 09:32 AM
 
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The 'Ville is like the Roach Motel . . . Once ppl check in, they just cant leave!

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Old 12-23-2012, 02:13 PM
 
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Thumbs up Lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by thunderkat59 View Post
The 'Ville is like the Roach Motel . . . Once ppl check in, they just cant leave!
LOL

Cheers...
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Old 12-23-2012, 03:35 PM
 
Location: Mishawaka, Indiana
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Is what Louisville did by merging with the county similar to what Indianapolis has done? I hear the sq miles of Indianapolis is huge, which is why it ranks as the 12th largest city in the country in terms of city population, but 32 in metro population.
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Old 12-23-2012, 11:27 PM
 
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Originally Posted by ColdAilment View Post
Is what Louisville did by merging with the county similar to what Indianapolis has done? I hear the sq miles of Indianapolis is huge, which is why it ranks as the 12th largest city in the country in terms of city population, but 32 in metro population.
Hmm, well, sort of. The census does not count all of Louisville's county, and also, Louisville's county is much smaller in land area than Indy. Louisville official "city" pop is around 550k, so this leaves nearly 200k unaccounted for in Jefferson County.

Louisville/Jefferson County Merger - Your Government - LouisvilleKy.gov

The population of Louisville/Jefferson County has grown dramatically since, now approaching 750,000 as of 2011. I expect Louisville to be one of the next major cities of the 20 years, as it was historically that way 100 years ago. That said, because of its KY location, I do not feel it will see the boomtown growth of Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, etc an thus will retain much of the character that draws people there.
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Old 12-24-2012, 02:05 AM
 
142 posts, read 729,430 times
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Default Since 2003,

Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdAilment View Post
Is what Louisville did by merging with the county similar to what Indianapolis has done? I hear the sq miles of Indianapolis is huge, which is why it ranks as the 12th largest city in the country in terms of city population, but 32 in metro population.
the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's total consolidated population at the 2010 census was 741,096 (Louisville's balance total, 602,011, excludes semi-autonomous towns and is the population listed in most sources and national rankings). As of 2010, the Louisville metropolitan area (MSA) had a population of 1,307,647 ranking 42nd nationally. The metro area includes Louisville-Jefferson County and 12 surrounding counties, eight in Kentucky and four in Southern Indiana. The Louisville Combined Statistical Area, having a population of 1,451,564, includes the MSA, Hardin County and Larue County in Kentucky, and Scott County, Indiana.

Jefferson County is the most populous county in Kentucky and is more than twice as populous as the second most populous, Fayette. It was formed in 1780. The population was 741,096 in the 2010 Census, but estimated at 752,866 in 2011.

Jefferson County is the most populous county in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN MSA.

Why the merger? IMO citizens left the medium density city-core to escape urban decay, crime, unemployment, etc.

The tax base left along with the citizens. The merger was one way to widen the tax base and pull in money from the more affluent suburbs, for example - the parts of Jefferson County lying outside Louisville proper, also to the 12 counties mentioned above. Many people also reside outside of Louisville city limits to elude the 2.2% occupational tax which is not a widely publicized tax.

Cheers...
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Old 12-24-2012, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
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okay, that makes sense and would explain a massive jump in population in such a short time without hitting the radar as being a booming city because it was simply adding people that already lived in its metro.
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