Jones Lang LaSalle
Morris population growth slowing
Census data show 3% rise since '00, but Florham Pk. up 23%
BY COLLEEN O'DEA
DAILY RECORD
At the midpoint between decennial censuses, new data released today show the Morris County region as a whole growing at a much smaller rate than it did in the previous decade.
The 2005 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that population in the typical town in Morris rose by about 3 percent since Census 2000, or less than a half percent a year. Between 1990 and 2000, population rose by more than twice that on average, or 1.1 percent a year. But that doesn't mean some places aren't growing.
Already, the bureau estimates, the population in four Morris communities has jumped more than 10 percent in five years. Florham Park has registered the largest increase, of nearly a quarter. Mount Arlington, Pequannock and Rockaway Township all have had double digits population increases.
Between 2004 and 2005, Mount Arlington, Pequannock and Denville saw their populations rise the most, the bureau believes.
"The fastest growers are towns with large condo/(apartment)-style housing -- senior or assisted living," said Christine Marion of the Morris County Planning Department. That's certainly been the case in Pequannock, which now has the county's largest continuing-care retirement community --Cedar Crest Village, with 1,500 units, Marion said. But there are also several municipalities that census officials believe have lost population, either between 2004 and 2005 or in the previous five years. Chatham, Lincoln Park, Mine Hill, Rockaway, Victory Gardens and Wharton all have smaller population counts in 2005 than they did in 2000, according to the estimates. And Butler, Madison, Mendham Township, Rockaway, Victory Gardens, Wharton, Hopatcong and Stanhope had fewer residents in 2005 than a year earlier.
In nearly all of those cases, the population losers are the smaller, older communities without land for growth and where residents tend to be older and have fewer children or have children who have moved away. "It's perhaps due to declining household size," Marion said.
These newest data still don't show a clear trend that can be attributable to the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act limiting growth in much of Morris County and the rest of the Highlands region. That act was signed in August 2004.
Of Morris region towns in the Highlands, 16 grew faster between 2004 and 2005 than they had from 2000 to 2004, while 20 municipalities grew at a slower pace. Because of the complexities of the act and the fact that growth is limited in portions of only some municipalities, it's hard to draw any conclusions from those numbers.
Dante DiPirro, executive director of the New Jersey Highlands Council that is drafting a master plan to govern development in the region, said staff is still analyzing population data and hasn't come to any conclusions yet.
But Jeff Tittel, head of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said the fact that there is still population growth shows the need for the plan. "Between the exemptions and the planning area and the grandfathering of projects, there's still a lot of growth happening."
Morris population growth slowing
Census data show 3% rise since '00, but Florham Pk. up 23%
BY COLLEEN O'DEA
DAILY RECORD
At the midpoint between decennial censuses, new data released today show the Morris County region as a whole growing at a much smaller rate than it did in the previous decade.
The 2005 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that population in the typical town in Morris rose by about 3 percent since Census 2000, or less than a half percent a year. Between 1990 and 2000, population rose by more than twice that on average, or 1.1 percent a year. But that doesn't mean some places aren't growing.
Already, the bureau estimates, the population in four Morris communities has jumped more than 10 percent in five years. Florham Park has registered the largest increase, of nearly a quarter. Mount Arlington, Pequannock and Rockaway Township all have had double digits population increases.
Between 2004 and 2005, Mount Arlington, Pequannock and Denville saw their populations rise the most, the bureau believes.
"The fastest growers are towns with large condo/(apartment)-style housing -- senior or assisted living," said Christine Marion of the Morris County Planning Department. That's certainly been the case in Pequannock, which now has the county's largest continuing-care retirement community --Cedar Crest Village, with 1,500 units, Marion said. But there are also several municipalities that census officials believe have lost population, either between 2004 and 2005 or in the previous five years. Chatham, Lincoln Park, Mine Hill, Rockaway, Victory Gardens and Wharton all have smaller population counts in 2005 than they did in 2000, according to the estimates. And Butler, Madison, Mendham Township, Rockaway, Victory Gardens, Wharton, Hopatcong and Stanhope had fewer residents in 2005 than a year earlier.
In nearly all of those cases, the population losers are the smaller, older communities without land for growth and where residents tend to be older and have fewer children or have children who have moved away. "It's perhaps due to declining household size," Marion said.
These newest data still don't show a clear trend that can be attributable to the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act limiting growth in much of Morris County and the rest of the Highlands region. That act was signed in August 2004.
Of Morris region towns in the Highlands, 16 grew faster between 2004 and 2005 than they had from 2000 to 2004, while 20 municipalities grew at a slower pace. Because of the complexities of the act and the fact that growth is limited in portions of only some municipalities, it's hard to draw any conclusions from those numbers.
Dante DiPirro, executive director of the New Jersey Highlands Council that is drafting a master plan to govern development in the region, said staff is still analyzing population data and hasn't come to any conclusions yet.
But Jeff Tittel, head of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said the fact that there is still population growth shows the need for the plan. "Between the exemptions and the planning area and the grandfathering of projects, there's still a lot of growth happening."
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