City growth rebounds

Reversing a decade-long trend, many of the largest U.S. cities are growing more quickly than the rest of the nation, yet another sign of an economic crisis that is making it harder for people to move.

In contrast, former hot spot areas in Nevada, Arizona and inland regions in California had significant slowdowns.

Census figures released today show that these slowdowns also occurred in Southern Nevada, usually one of the fastest growing regions of the nation. Other calculations by Clark County show that the county's population actually declined slightly in 2008.

The Census data highlight a city resurgence in coastal regions and areas of the Midwest and Northeast, due to a housing crunch, recession and higher gasoline prices that have slowed migration to far-flung suburbs and residential hot spots in the South and West.

Southern Nevada continued to grow in 2008, according to the Census figures, although it was at a smaller rate than in the previous seven years.

Clark County, for example, grew at an average annual rate of 3.9 percent from 2001 to 2007, reaching a population of just over 1.8 million people. That number went up just 2 percent in 2008, though, to 1,865,746.

Local cities posted similar results. North Las Vegas was the most dramatic. From 2000 to 2007, the city added 93,108 residents, an increase of 78.9 percent, and averaged 8.6 percent annual population growth during that period. In 2008, the population grew 2.9 percent.

Las Vegas and Henderson also saw growth slow, from steady rates throughout most of the decade to 1.5 percent for Henderson and 0.4 percent for Las Vegas in 2008.

Clark County does its own population studies that show the valley having a higher population than the Census bureau does, but the local numbers reflect a slowdown as well. The county's population dropped half a percent in 2008 to just under 2 million, the county's report states. Clark County also showed Las Vegas breaking the 600,000-person barrier in 2007, a number that dropped 0.6 percent in 2008 to 599,087. Other cities in the valley posted small increases last year, according to the county numbers.

The Census Bureau's 2008 population figures show New York and Chicago made gains from higher births, while Philadelphia stanched losses from earlier in the decade.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., all on the West Coast, registered growth, boosted partly by foreign-born immigrants who moved into and stayed in gateway cities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Review-Journal reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal. com or 702-229-6435.