Florida's population growth hits a wall

For years, Florida municipalities routinely dominated the list of the Census Bureau's fastest-growing U.S. cities.

No more.

The latest census population estimates released Tuesday show that no Florida city with more than 100,000 people ranked in the country's top 75 for growth last year. It represents a stunning reversal in the state's recent demographic history and signals the challenges Florida faces trying to rebuild a growth-based economy when growth is largely absent.

Measured over the past 10 years, nine Florida cities ranked among the top 100 fastest growing in the nation, with four in the top 35. But in 2008-09, the subject of the newest census report, Orlando was the only Florida city with more than 100,000 people among the top 100 fastest growing.

The census is the last estimate for cities and towns to be released based on the 2000 census. The government is currently conducting its 10-year census, results of which will start coming out this fall.

Economists point to the housing crisis and job losses as the main reason growth has slowed in Florida. The state has always appealed to three groups: retirees who came in search of fair weather; people in their 20s, 30s and 40s looking for jobs; and immigrants from Mexico and other nations, said Stanley K. Smith, who heads the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

"The big story is that, in the early part of this decade, we were near record levels," Smith said. "But what we're seeing now is the most dramatic decline since World War II. And it's because of the economic collapse.

"People are just not coming to Florida like they used to."

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Florida's population growth hits a wall - Herald-Tribune.com - June 23, 2010