The key to Gainesville's fortunes will be for the population to grow faster than projected over the next 30 years, according to economist David Denslow.
The population in Lee and Collier counties is estimated to have increased since 2010, likely due to an increase in baby boomers looking for second homes, retirees moving to Florida, people taking advantage of lower housing prices and a slightly stronger job outlook.
The population is estimated to have grown 3.1 percent in Lee County and 2.6 percent in Collier County from 2010 to 2012, according to census data and preliminary population estimates from the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.
Even with a flagging economy, people keep moving to Florida. Dr. Stan Smith is the Director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.
He said that is important because the numbers help to determine the number of state representatives in Congress. Florida picked up 2 because of the 2010 Census.
The share of Hispanics living in Florida grew by almost 60 percent over the past decade as the percentage of white residents declined slightly and the proportion of blacks and Asians inched up, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census.
Hispanics now make up 22.5 percent of Florida's 18.8 million residents, up from 16.7 percent of Floridians in 2000, when the state only had 15.9 million residents, the Census data showed.
Most of Florida's largest counties and cities grew more rapidly than the nation since 2000, according to 2010 Census data released Thursday.
"It's a story of two different half-decades," says Stanley Smith, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. "The first half was so great that it made up for any decline of the past few years."
A year ago, the news in Florida couldn't have been more dire. On top of the housing bust and an unemployment rate topping 12 percent came the news that Florida's great economic engine -- growth -- had ground to a halt. For the first time since the end of World War II, Florida lost population -- some 50,000 people, estimates showed.
After decades of rapid growth in which housing developments sprouted in swamps, farmland and deserts, the number of Americans moving to several states in the South and the West has slowed sharply because of the recession and housing bust, according to Census Bureau figures released Wednesday.
Your correspondent believes demographics is destiny.
An easy thing to believe in Florida. A place where population growth -- or its sudden reversal -- can explain almost everything we do. At least those things that are explainable. Not everything is, you know.
So when the U.S. Census Bureau released a compilation of Baby Boomer statistics the other week, he took notice. Boomers are people born during the population burst between 1946-1964.
THE VILLAGES — While at their neighborhood recreation center, Village of Duval residents Paul and Dawne Lampson gazed across the street last week and expressed an amazement shared by neighbors Jerry and Sue Wilson and Jim and Gayle Opatrny.
Just a year or so ago, an expanse of undeveloped land existed across the street from the Odell Circle pool, bocce court and postal station.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Cruise up coastal highway A1A. Take in the sea breeze, the sand and surf shimmering in the sun, the palm trees swaying beside luxury high-rise hotels, shops and cafes. The idyllic image helps explain why millions have come to Florida to play, and millions have come back to stay.
