Vol. 3, No. 9
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March 1, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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Build It And They Keep Coming, According To New Information
Fernley Among The Fastest Growing Cities In Nevada With 16,357 People
Three of the four largest cities in Nevada are in Clark County, which probably surprises no one, but some of the growth in what used to be called rural Nevada might. It wasn't that many years ago that dusty little Pahrump was only known for its strange name. Now 33,241 people live there. Of course if you drive on Highway 160 you already know that. State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle released population figures recently that show just how fast the Silver State is growing.
Of the top ten cities as far as population goes, three are from what used to be called the cow counties. Besides Pahrump, Elko has a population of 17,850 and Fernley, little sleepy Fernley, is ranked number nine with a population of 16,357. Fernley is the largest city in Lyon County now, and is also the economic leader of the county sporting manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, and still, agriculture. Amazingly, Fernley has a larger population than Boulder City in Clark County.
Las Vegas has more residents today than the entire state had just 40-years ago: 569,838. Reno trails and is ranked number three in the state with 206,735 residents. Most of them can be found at the intersection of McCarran Blvd. and South Virginia Street any day of the week.
From a pure economic stand point, most in politics and business like to see growth, particularly slightly controlled growth, but at some point the question of life style must be asked. At what point do we reach what might be called saturation? Of course, everyone has their own answer to that, one will always hear the comment, "now that I'm here, let's stop all others from coming," but that isn't going to happen.
Reno City Manager Charles McNeely discussed growth recently when he said, "the City Council needs to continue to monitor growth to ensure growth pays for itself." In 2003-2004, he said, Reno's growth rate was just under two percent. "Compare that," McNeely said, "to North Las Vegas at 13 percent and Henderson at six percent."
On the other hand Reno Community Development Director John B. Hester, in a prepared statement for The Nevada Observer said, "I don't think it matters whether a city is third or fourth largest in the state. What is important," he said, "is that we are planning for natural resources. Whether the market is stronger in southern or northern Nevada, we want to be prepared by having good plans in place."
McNeely said Reno is growing, but not at an explosive rate. McNeely praised the Regional Plan that was recently accepted by the City of Reno, City of Sparks, and Washoe County that calls for a doubling of the current county population within the next 25 years. If the quality of life today can be considered "good," and today's population is somewhere around 300,000 in the county, will that quality of life be as good or better with 665,000 people? McNeely says Reno should maintain a "small town feel."
The Census Bureau and Hardcastle disagree by a hundred thousand or so, but the Census Bureau put the state's population at 2,414,807. The next general census will take place in 2010.
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