Looks like Oakland County has become the place to be.
In the past six years, no other Michigan county added more new residents than Oakland County. And no community, from the smallest townships and villages to the largest cities lost a single resident during that time, including a resurgent Pontiac.
That’s according to county-level data released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau, It shows Oakland County’s population grew 41,020 residents from 2010 to 2016, just ahead of Kent’s 39,551 new residents and Macomb’s 26,752. These three were among only 28 of Michigan’s 83 counties to gain population during the six-year period.
• Townships comprised the top three and six of the county’s top 10 fastest-growing communities. These include No. 1 Lyon, No. 2 Oakland and No. 3 Orion followed by No. 5 Oxford, No. 7 Commerce and No. 8 Milford townships;
• 58 of 61 communities grew faster – by percentage – than the state’s 0.5 percent population growth;
• 14 of 61 communities grew faster – by percentage – than the county’s 3.4 percent population growth;
• Lyon Township led the county in percentage growth at 30.4 percent and population growth with 4,443 new residents;
• Novi was the top city at No. 4 overall with 3,938 new residents, a 7.12 percent increase;
• Mature communities that appear landlocked and out of room also posted gains. Birmingham, for example, added over 900 residents;
• Even Pontiac, the county seat now on the rebound, welcomed 197 new residents for a modest 0.3 percent increase;
• Tiny Southfield Township’s population remained steady at 19 residents over the six-year period showing no growth, the only community not to add a person.
For many communities atop the list, the reasons for their growth are obvious.
Over the six-year period, Novi was No. 4 on the list of fastest-growing Oakland County communities. Mayor Bob Gatt credited the population growth to his community’s safety, diversity, schools and location.
“It is all these qualities and more which make Novi a world-class community,” he said.
The city is also prepared with resources such as the HelloNovi.org website with its interactive map to help potential residents learn more about Novi.
“The site is especially useful for families relocating to the area for (corporate) assignments from overseas,” Gatt said. “HelloNovi lets visitors take a virtual tour of Novi, even providing a translate option to ensure understanding in a variety of languages.”
The city has also been growing, adding several new housing developments to attract and accommodate new residents.
“Several new single-family housing developments were approved over the last several years, as well as multi-unit structures. The Fox Run retirement community added another residential tower and also continues to be quite popular for older adults,” Gatt said.
Though Birmingham’s physical boundaries have not changed, City Manager Joseph Valentine said the city has worked with developers to repurpose existing buildings to attract new residents. Over the past six years, the city added 904 residents, a 4.5 percent increase, and good enough for 12th on the list of fastest growing communities.
Developers have rebuilt one-story commercial buildings into four- or five-story buildings with commercial areas in the lower floors and residential areas above. This move is logical and effective, said Valentine, because it utilizes existing space in the most efficient way and allows for both residential and commercial growth.
The city has seen the most growth of this kind in the area known as the Rail District, an area on the east side of the city.
Supervisor Chris Barnett listed several factors for Orion Township’s ability to attract 2,872 new residents since 2010, an 8.84 percent increase, and second on the list of fastest growing communities.
He said a recent survey asked residents what they most appreciate about living in the township.
“The first reason was the school district,” he said. “The second reason was for the lakes and parks.”
The township has four existing parks and Barnett announced the creation of a fifth park at his March State of the Township presentation. The new 76-acre park is located off Joslyn Road, across from Canterbury Village. Barnett also said that over the last three or four years, 80 percent of building activity has been for single-family homes.
The same is true for Rochester Hills, said Mayor Bryan Barnett.
“We continue to have a healthy amount of new housing development,” he said. “We’re the home of the OPC (Older Persons’ Commission) and a lot of homes are being built for our senior population.”
The Older Persons’ Commission provides services for people age 50 and older.
Rochester Hills welcomed 2,383 new residents, a 3.35 percent increase or just a fraction below the county’s 3.41 population growth average.
“We have a reputation of being a safe community,” Barnett said. “People enjoy our natural resources and excellent school system.”
While Oakland County continues to grow, other southeast Michigan communities did not fare as well during the six years covered by the latest Census release.
“All the cities in Wayne County kind of tanked,” said Kurt Metzger, director emeritus for Data Driven Detroit, who collected and examined the population data for the Oakland Press and Digital First Media’s publications in Michigan. “The only real gainers in Wayne County were Brownstown Township, Canton Township, and Plymouth. … Dearborn is pretty well built up. There’s not that much housing being built.”
He also noted that Detroit lost 40,982 residents during the six-year period, or 5.7 percent of its population, including 3,541 from 2015 to 2016 alone. The city finished 2016 with 672,795 residents.
“There’s a lot of housing that has come on since, or is getting ready to come on.” he said, but “most of the people living in Detroit are one-person or two-person households.”
The loss dropped Detroit to the 23rd largest city in the country, he said, but was not the among biggest losers. ”Chicago was the biggest (population loser), followed by Baltimore and Milwaukee,” he said.
Analysis of the data also shows:
Wayne County has lost 71,218 people since 2010. In Macomb County, three communities exceeded 100,000 population in 2016. Clinton Township had 100,392 residents, Sterling Heights 132,427, and Warren 135,125. Only four other Michigan cities had more than 100,000 residents, including Detroit, Grand Rapids with 196,445, Ann Arbor with 120,782, and Lansing with 116, 020.
Across the state, Ottawa County led the state with 6.4 percent population growth followed by another western county, Kent, with 6.1 percent. Grand Traverse was third with 5.5 percent. The Upper Peninsula counties of Ontonagan and Gogebic lost 12.8 percent and 7.2 percent of their citizens respectively, the largest population drop in the state over the six-year period. Overall, Michigan’s population grew 50,805 people or 0.5 percent to reach 9.91 million residents.
