Proponents of various local public spending initiatives often cite the need for Shorewood to remain competitive with other North Shore suburbs for new residents. This week, the US Census Bureau released its annual population estimates, which tell one piece of the story on how we are doing in this particular competition.
The numbers show Shorewood is indeed losing population, though not as quickly as the other North Shore suburbs. Whitefish Bay is losing population faster than we are in Shorewood, as are Brown Deer, Bayside, Fox Point, and Glendale. Since the year 2000, Shorewood has lost 3.7% of our population, compared to 4.4% lost for Whitefish Bay. Bayside saw the largest percentage decrease, at 5.9%.
As the population interested in living in inner ring suburbs dwindles, and households continue to shrink, we need to be sure we remain competitive with the nearby suburbs. But as the numbers show, we are not hurting as badly as our various neighbors to the North.
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Percent Change from 2000-2006Bayside Village -5.9%
Brown Deer Village -4.8%
Whitefish Bay Village -4.4%
Fox Point Village -4.4%
Glendale City -4.2%
Shorewood Village -3.7%
Source: US Census Bureau, JSOnline----------------------
If you are interested, you can read how other communities are doing in this week's JSOnline article, "
Franklin sees population boom, census data show." There are several tables and charts in the article showing who is gaining and losing in terms of population.