[Mpls] Interesting fact

[Terrell Brown]

--- David Brauer <david at tcq.net> wrote:
> But according to Reinhardt's report, the number of city households is
> amazingly constant. Check it out:
> 
> 1950: 159,110 households
> 1960: 165,791 (peak)
> 1970: 161,141
> 1980: 161,858
> 1990: 160,682
> 2000: 162,352
> 
> In other words, in 50 years, the number of Mpls households has varied
> by no more than 4 percent, and in 30 years, has varied by less than 1
> percent.
 
> Bottom line: city population is completely about household size.
> No other big point, just the stats geek in me.

[TB]  Actually there is a big point here if you happen to be running a
school district.  Since 1950 the average household size has decreased
from about 3 to about 2 and a huge percentage of that decrease is
school aged kids.  That decline in household size is the reason that we
are closing (or at least should be closing) schools.

In my neighborhood, Loring Park, the 2000 census found 7,500 people and
the number under the age of 18 is something around a hundred or so.  Of
course most of the students at Emerson arrive by big yellow bus.  I
wasn't around when Emerson was built, but expect that most of the
students lived within walking distance.

I wouldn't expect the average household size to decrease much more and
as the number of households increases as we continue to build up, I
question the estimates that the city population is decreasing.




Terrell Brown
Loring Park