By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
New 2010 census numbers presented at the June 13 Planning Commission meeting revealed how Cheney has changed in the past decade.
Community Development director Brian Jennings presented preliminary results of the census, including population, housing counts and household breakdowns. He said the U.S. Census Bureau would release more detailed information in the coming months, but “we thought it was important to share with you what we've got so far,” he told the commission.
Cheney's population grew 20 percent since 2000, with the 2010 population reaching 10,590. Jennings pointed out changes to Cheney's racial breakdowns, with the African American population growing 127 percent and the Hispanic population growing 157 percent.
While the numbers of minorities are still small—the 2010 census showed 8,653 white residents, 237 African American residents and 606 Hispanic residents in Cheney—comparisons to Liberty Lake, Spokane, Spokane County, Pullman and Moscow showed that Cheney had the highest minority population.
“We're obviously influenced by the university,” Jennings said. “We're one of the most diverse cities around, and that can definitely be an advantage.”
Eastern Washington University's influence on the local population was further shown in the age demographics of Cheney.
“Cheney is getting younger,” Jennings said.
Since 2000, the 15-24 age group grew 39 percent and the 25-34 age group grew 12.7 percent. The over-55 population also grew significantly, but Jennings stressed the younger generation's importance to Cheney's future.
“They're going to have major impacts on the jobs and housing market 10, 20, 30 years down the road,” he said. “Over 75 percent of our population is 34 or younger. That's huge.”
Commissioners expressed concern at a decrease to the 35-44 age group, considered to be one of the bigger spending age groups as people pursue homes and families.
Commissioner Chris Grover said that people between 35-44 years old are often in the prime of their careers and pursuing high-dollar jobs, which he said were lacking in Cheney.
Census results on households in Cheney proved a widely held belief that rental housing outnumbers single family homes. Around 69 percent of Cheney's residential units housed renters, a seven percent increase over 2000. Jennings pointed out that Pullman and Moscow, also college towns, had similar rates at 71 and 59 percent respectively.
Commission chair Randall Butler suggested that Jennings share the census results with local business groups and the university.
also at the meeting, Public Works director Todd Ableman shared the city's 2012-2017 transportation improvement plan with the commission. He said the city's residential street and sidewalk program, which ran from 1999 to 2011, completed work on 17.8 miles of streets and 6.1 miles of sidewalks, using $882,000 in grants and $4.4 million in local funds. Arterial street projects from the same period saw $9.25 million in grant funding—mostly federal money—and $760,000 in local contributions.
While the work has improved the overall quality of Cheney's streets, Ableman said there was still work to be done, and shared plans for 2012-2017 while stressing a bleak funding picture.
“A lot of the transportation dollars are drying up,” he said.
He said the city would continue to plan for street work, and said maintenance of recent street improvements was critical.
“Now that we have good infrastructure, the idea is to maintain that,” he said.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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