Growth is good. Just ask Michiganders about the alternative. Theirs is the only state to show a population decrease in the past decade, and among the effects are the loss of one seat in Congress and a tougher road for repairing Michigan’s economy.
On the other hand, rapid growth also presents problems, especially when local governments and school districts struggle to serve more people while maintaining the quality of life. So it is with encouragement that we view the figurative brakes that have been applied to Clark County’s population growth, revealed in U.S. Census figures announced last week. Oh, we’re still growing. Make no mistake about that. But whereas local population soared 45 percent during the 1990s, in the 2000s that rate dropped to 23 percent. The key reason is five words you won’t see often on this page: thanks to the economic crisis. As Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart said in a Thursday Columbian story, “you can see a pretty direct correlation between rise in unemployment and foreclosures and the slowdown of growth.”
We wish it didn’t have to be this way. In a perfect world, Clark County would experience steady but single-digit population growth in the midst of an economic boom. But the fierce challenge to properly manage growth is one consequence local residents must face as a result of living in such a desirable place.
This growth has significant political implications. According to The Olympian newspaper, the 3rd Congressional District (represented in Congress by Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler of Camas) was the second fastest-growing district in the state, with a 19 percent population surge, topped only by 23.8 percent in the 8th District (Bellevue and other areas east of Lake Washington). Our congressional district will be redrawn for the 2012 election, and as computers spit out details to guide the state’s Redistricting Commission, Clark County residents might be surprised at the neighbors we lose and gain in the geographically smaller district.
