Consultant foresees population decline in Galesburg

Monday
Jan 8, 2018 at 9:31 PM Jan 8, 2018 at 9:31 PM

Rebecca Susmarski The Register-Mail

GALESBURG — The consulting firm that the city of Galesburg hired to complete its parks and recreation master plan estimated that Galesburg’s population will continue to decline at a steady rate though 2021.

Mohit Maheshwari, senior associate at Houseal Lavigne Associates, announced during a Galesburg City Council work session Monday that his firm projected a decrease of 547 people from Galesburg between the years 2016 and 2021, at an annual rate of 0.35 percent. The firm predicted that the loss of overall population as well as households, families and those of a median age will continue to decrease at a steady rate of about 0.5 percent through that time period.

Maheshwari cautioned the council to be aware of the trend, as the demographics of those who remain in Galesburg can affect what parks and recreation projects residents expect to see. Outdoor sports tended to be popular across generations, but especially with millennials.

The firm made the projections by analyzing ArcGIS Business Analyst data from a company called ESRI, which specializes in GIS software and spatial data analytics, for the parks and recreation master plan. ESRI pulls data from various sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, and consolidates the information, Maheshwari said. He confirmed that the data is based on trend analysis and did not take into account how it might change should the city decide to solely focus on addressing population decline this year, in a hypothetical scenario.

Galesburg Mayor John Pritchard was not surprised by the trend prediction, given that the trend had been similar in all of western Illinois for a number of years, he said.

“We’ve been looking at this pretty seriously for four and a half years, and fundamentally it’s (about) creating jobs in the community, to either retain young people or to attract people to move in to take jobs,” Pritchard said. “We have to find living-wage jobs and help our companies create those.”

The firm also found that more than 60 percent of Galesburg households earn less than $50,000 annually, while approximately 10 percent of Galesburg households earn between $75,000 to $100,000 annually. Those belonging to households in the latter category tend to be the most active in parks and recreation programs, according to the Houseal Lavigne data sheet provided by the city.

 

Rebecca Susmarski: (309) 343-7181, ext. 261; rsusmarski@register-mail.com; @RSusmarski

Monday
Jan 8, 2018 at 9:31 PM Jan 8, 2018 at 9:31 PM

Rebecca Susmarski The Register-Mail

GALESBURG — The consulting firm that the city of Galesburg hired to complete its parks and recreation master plan estimated that Galesburg’s population will continue to decline at a steady rate though 2021.

Mohit Maheshwari, senior associate at Houseal Lavigne Associates, announced during a Galesburg City Council work session Monday that his firm projected a decrease of 547 people from Galesburg between the years 2016 and 2021, at an annual rate of 0.35 percent. The firm predicted that the loss of overall population as well as households, families and those of a median age will continue to decrease at a steady rate of about 0.5 percent through that time period.

Maheshwari cautioned the council to be aware of the trend, as the demographics of those who remain in Galesburg can affect what parks and recreation projects residents expect to see. Outdoor sports tended to be popular across generations, but especially with millennials.

The firm made the projections by analyzing ArcGIS Business Analyst data from a company called ESRI, which specializes in GIS software and spatial data analytics, for the parks and recreation master plan. ESRI pulls data from various sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, and consolidates the information, Maheshwari said. He confirmed that the data is based on trend analysis and did not take into account how it might change should the city decide to solely focus on addressing population decline this year, in a hypothetical scenario.

Galesburg Mayor John Pritchard was not surprised by the trend prediction, given that the trend had been similar in all of western Illinois for a number of years, he said.

“We’ve been looking at this pretty seriously for four and a half years, and fundamentally it’s (about) creating jobs in the community, to either retain young people or to attract people to move in to take jobs,” Pritchard said. “We have to find living-wage jobs and help our companies create those.”

The firm also found that more than 60 percent of Galesburg households earn less than $50,000 annually, while approximately 10 percent of Galesburg households earn between $75,000 to $100,000 annually. Those belonging to households in the latter category tend to be the most active in parks and recreation programs, according to the Houseal Lavigne data sheet provided by the city.

 

Rebecca Susmarski: (309) 343-7181, ext. 261; rsusmarski@register-mail.com; @RSusmarski

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