It may seem crowded, but Jersey growth lags

[Kire]

North Carolina could take our No. 10 spot

Wednesday, December 22, 2004
BY ROBERT GEBELOFF
Star-Ledger Staff

New Jersey, once the eighth most populous state, will drop out of the Top 10 by 2007 if current demographic trends hold, new Census data suggest.

The Garden State is now growing at an annual rate of 0.65 percent -- well below the national rate, which is just under 1 percent, according to state-by-state population estimates being released today.

Last year, Georgia leapfrogged New Jersey and moved into ninth place. Now North Carolina, growing at a rate of 1.4 percent a year, appears poised to surpass New Jersey as well.

"New Jersey is becoming full-up to a degree," said James Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Public Policy at Rutgers University. "Once you become a mature state and fully developed, you're going to grow slower."

More: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1103696307122440.xml

[JerseygirlCT]

1. Where the heck could they PUT anyone else?

I cannot believe how many condos and mcmansions they've squeezed into my home area! And for prices that are just astounding.

Slower growth should be a good thing in NJ, I'd say.

[fearnobush]

2. Yeah, but we need those electoral votes.

Those red states could skim some away from us.

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[boredofeducation]

3. NJ has a big stance on anti-development

A lot of local governments have put in place restrictive zoning so not too many home can be built in certain areas. Where I live, we have a town that has 10 Acre zoning, which means only one house per ten acres, and those home have to be huge to make up for land costs.