North Port shifting from boom to brake

The booming growth that catapulted North Port to its prized position as Sarasota County’s biggest city screeched to a halt last year, as North Port added a modest 780 new residents, new census figures show.

While the state added 300,000 to 400,000 people a year during the boom, its gain over the decade amounted to a 14 percent increase. Last year, modest statewide growth pushed the population up by less than 1 percent to 18.3 million.

Many of the cities that saw burgeoning growth during the boom are seeing the most dramatic declines now, said Scott Cody, a demographics researcher and professor at the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

But most cities in Southwest Florida, particularly older ones, saw their populations stay flat last year as they have for most of the decade.

North Port shifting from boom to brake- Sarasota Herald-Tribune - July 1, 2009