ANDERSON — In the past seven years, Anderson has lost 2,451 residents.
The Indiana Business Research Center of Indiana University released a statewide trend report on Friday, highlighting those communities that had grown the most, and in Anderson’s case, the least.
The data saw Anderson’s estimated population drop 4.1 percent from 59,762 in 2000 to 57,311 in 2007.
Ingalls, on the other hand, skyrocketed over the past seven years with a 41.34 percent increase.
It only represents 487 people, but the change is significant for the town, now populated by 1,665 residents.
Ingalls Town Council President Doug Dowden attributes the growth to the recent annexation of the Prairie Hollow housing addition and the annexation of a 250-acre industrial park at Interstate 69 and Indiana 13.
Overall, the county saw a population loss of just 1.53 percent, or 2,046 people.
According to Matt Kinghorn of the IBRC, only incorporated areas of the county saw population declines.
Unincorporated parts of the county increased 3.18 percent. “If you pluck Anderson out of Madison County, you actually have growth for the rest of the county,” Kinghorn said.
Why it’s happening
Population loss in the county is being blamed on the continuous loss of manufacturing jobs in the area.
Rob Sparks, director of the Madison County Corporation for Economic Development, attributed the loss to General Motors jobs that have been relocated to Marion and Kokomo. “With that last wave of those jobs being eliminated, people are relocating to find better opportunities to find better jobs.”
Though the county has fought to attract new industrial and manufacturing businesses to town, they’ve been unable to compensate for the loss.
“We bring Nestlé into town with 300 jobs but lose well over 1,000 with Delphi,” Sparks said.
Elwood is no stranger to job loss.
In the past three months, the city of just over 9,000 has lost over 400 jobs to plant closures.
According to the latest census report, Elwood has also lost 672 residents in the past seven years, a loss of 6.92 percent — the biggest percentage decrease in the county.
Mayor Merrill Taylor said job loss in Anderson also affected his residents. “There was a lot of people from Elwood that worked at Delco and Guide. A lot of people are going elsewhere to look for jobs.”
The mayor said the problem is being echoed throughout the town, particularly in the new subdivisions built for newcomers who never showed.
Both Cattails subdivision and Willow Walk, Willow Run, were developed over a year ago to attract Indianapolis residents moving north.
Noblesville, Taylor said, seemed to be attracting these people, so why not Elwood, they thought.
A year later, only one home stands in the Cattails subdivision with the possibility of another sale.
“We’re very concerned about it,” Taylor said about the city’s shrinking population.
Around the state
Fishers emerged as the fastest growing community in Indiana, increasing its population by 73 percent with a gain of 27,000 residents since 2000, doubling Indianapolis’ gain of 13,214.
Anderson’s 4 percent loss was trumped by a 4.2 percent loss in Evansville, a 5.9 percent decline in Gary, and a 6.8 percent drop in Hammond, the most significant drop of Indiana’s 20 largest cities. Muncie lost 3.9 percent of its population.
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