RECENT COMMENTS
Richmond’s population up 3.4% since 2010
According to new population estimates released a few days ago by Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service Demographics Research Group at UVA, Richmond’s population has grown to 211,172, up 6,958 new residents since the official 2010 count of 204,214 (and up from the 2000 count of 197,790).
The city’s population peaked at 249,621 in 1970 with the last annexation. The count steadily dropped into the 1990s, with a bottom around 189,000. With steady growth since the MID-2000s, the city’s population crossed above 200,000 in 2008.
The Richmond metropolitan region’s population has risen to 1,259,266, an increase of 34,168 people (2.8%). Henrico, Chesterfield, and Virginia have each grown 3.4%, 3.3%, and 3.2% respectively in the same time period.
So, will the downtown area be able to reach historical population highs by filling abandoned and underutilized housing on the margin of residential, but blighted areas? Or will more multi-unit development be required just to get back to 1970 numbers?
Not entirely sure we can surpass 250,000 significantly without significantly more high-rise apartments and condos. If we don’t support that type of high density development, property values for existing homes should rise significantly. We shall see, should be very interesting.
Michael – your probably right, seeing as years of McMansion style suburbia have engendered a desire for vastly oversized living spaces.
There was a study some time ago that showed that urban revitalization would often actually start while a city was technically still losing people. I suspect Richmond has had a decade or two where the number of homes occupied has increased while both the average household size and total population have decreased. I’ll see if I can find a link to it.
What is the date of these estimates?
“These estimates, generally released at the end of January, provide the best approximation of the population count on July 1st of the prior year.”
http://www.coopercenter.org/demographics/virginia-population-estimates
Good news. If only the surrounding counties were losing population and richmond was growing even more rapidly.