Avon Benefits in Population Shift Shown in Census

Avon's h shown in the recent 2010 Census figures was unique not only for the amount of growth, but its contrast with many other cities in the Cleveland area.

Among six cities within 10 miles of Cleveland we surveyed, only one city's population grew, and by only 0.3 percent. And within 20 miles, eight of 13 city populations dropped. Cities between 21 and 40 miles fared much better, with only two of the 10 we surveyed dropping in population.

Cuyahoga County as a whole lost more than 100,000 residents, according to the new data.

Lorain County, meanwhile, gained 16,000 residents despite population dips in the cities of Lorain and Elyria. The county grew mostly in the eastern communities of , and North Ridgeville.

Avon was one of the biggest-growing spots, with an 85-percent increase from 11,446 in 2000 to 21,193 in 2010.

said the city's growth wasn't surprising. It has the two most important things today's homebuyers want: a , and lots of new homes or land to build them.

He does not see these new figures changing much for the city.

"The growth already happened," Smith said. "We've dealth with it."

State and federal grants the city might be eligible for now are drying up, he said.

"We're lucky to be in a position where we largely fund ourselves," Smith said. "You can't operate on grants, but on a sure amount of money. Grants are just that, grants, not a revenue stream."

The biggest change for the city will be in Congressional representation. With a Republican-controlled Congress, Smith said, there could be a radical re-drawing of districts here in Northeast Ohio. It may mean that Betty Sutton (D-Copley Township) no longer is Avon's Congresswoman.

Smith does not believe Avon will grow like this again in the next 10 years. Much of the city's growth, he said, came from 2000 to 2005, peaking in 2004 when there were 417 new homes built in the city. He forecasts between 100 and 200 new homes will be built in the city each year.

"Some of it's the economy," he said. "Companies aren't transferring people like they did. I don't know if people are going to be moving like they used to."

Robert L. Fischer, Ph.D. and Co-Director of Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development, said that there is little doubt that foreclosures are a piece of Cuyahoga County's drop. Cuyahoga County has seen 14,000 foreclosures per year since 2006, and half of those have occurred in the city of Cleveland.

"The other matter that is well documented is that while Cleveland population has declined markedly (-17%) the population in Cuyahoga County has not dropped as much (-8.2%) and the region has remained relatively flat (-2%)," he wrote in an email.

"Partly this reflects the migration of families out of the urban center and the sprawl of the metropolitan area, that has been taking place since the 1950s. Certainly the shifts in the regional economy have also fueled these patterns as well," he added.

But Cleveland is not alone in this pattern: Fischer added that other major cities including Cincinnati, Toledo and Akron have seen similar population patterns.