Census: Hamilton County losing 1% of population every year
New Census figures are out, tracking the latest population estimates from 2000 through July 2009.
The numbers show that New York state as a whole is still gaining population, largely because of growth in New York City, the downstate suburbs and the Hudson River valley.
But Upstate and rural parts of the the North Country are struggling, and shedding population at a perilous rate.
Hamilton County has lost more than 8% of its population over the period — nearly a 1% per year decline.
That’s painful in a rural territory already thinly settled, dropping from roughly 5,400 residents down to just 4,900.
Essex and St. Lawrence Counties each lost roughly 1,200 people over the decade. Franklin County lost about 1,000 people.
Other North Country counties are faring better.
Jefferson Country grew by about 7,000 residents. Warren County picked up around 3,000 people. Clinton County gained about 2,000 people over that period.
The North Country’s decline mirrors similar erosion in Western New York and some of the Empire State’s industrial cities.
This news is likely to further inflame tensions between Upstate and Downstate spending priorities — already a hot issue in Albany as the budget is debated.
But the decline has been going on for decades and it’s unclear whether government subsidies or spending programs can reverse it.
Your thoughts? Comment below.
Things change and people move for many reasons. The US is a history of migration both from other countries and within from shore to shore. Look back 100 years and you will find significant outflow of population from rural NYS areas as larger trends, such as agriculture to industry, took hold. Same thing today. Only it is industry that has moved from NYS to southern states, to Mexico to China. Now the competition is the rest of the world and corporations will do what is best for them, not what is good for a state or country. It is not a stretch to see Hamilton County’s population loss connected to global economic policies. Look at one of the area’s larger industries – logging and paper – clearly a global industry and declining in the Adks. The irony is if you look at the predominant Republican voting patterns of Hamiliton County, residents are voting for the very politicians that promote economic, immigration and social policies that will exacerbate population outflow from Hamilton County. So maybe we shouldn’t care. And besides I can’t imagine they would want (more) government to do something about it.
With the local population declines it is time for those "less-government" types to support combining Adk towns, or do away with them all together. The 2000 census says there are 151 people in the town of Morehouse. How do those numbers justify a separate political entity? The boundaries of Morehouse have been adjusted over the years, as have most Adk towns. It is time for another adjustment or elimination of Adk towns to reflect current realities.
Everyone is always talking about combining or doing away with towns and villages to save money.Getting rid of towns and villages would be getting rid of local control.It would be turning over everything to the state and federal governments and we know how efficient they are.I would rather see eliminating state and federal agencies.I would suggest we start by getting rid of the ATF, DEA and the US Army.The Navy and Air Force have enough fire power to rid the planet of all of our enemies.
Getting rid of local control? Control of what? Adk towns have little interest or regulations for controlling development. Most major highways in the Adks are NYS or County roads. Why not dissolve towns and let the counties handle these services. As far as Federal agencies like the US Army and ATF are concerned – I'm glad the ATF is around to keep terrorists like the "Christian warrior" militia from hatching their plans.