October 10, 2006

Less than two weeks ago a CBS news crew came to Maricopa to film a segment on population growth in America, entitled “300 Million and Counting.”  The program aired at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 8, featuring Mayor Kelly Anderson and Councilman Will Dunn.

Why Maricopa?  CBS viewed Maricopa as a microcosm of the population explosion across America as a whole.  Celebrating its third birthday as an incorporated city this Founders Day weekend, Maricopa has gone from a population of 1,500 to approximately 25,000 in those three years.  Predictions for 2010 indicate the city’s population nearing 100,000.

Mayor Anderson, who grew up in Maricopa, noted the many changes since he was a boy.  “Life was good, “ noted the mayor.  “It’s good now.”  Mayor Anderson was photographed at the Homecoming Week parade and interviewed on the family farm, which has been in existence since 1949.

Mayor Kelly Anderson grew up in Maricopa at a time when the population was much smaller.

Councilman Dunn met with CBS correspondent Thalia Assuras at his Stage Stop country store.  Dunn told CBS that you had to make a choice regarding the growth in Maricopa—whether to be upset about it or see it as an opportunity.  “We decided at that point, we’re gonna work with it,” Dunn explained.

According to the CBS report, sometime next week (the week of October 16), the population of the United States will reach 300 million.  Statistically, that figure is based on one million new residents every four months.  Only China and India have larger populations.

America’s population hit the 100 million mark in 1915 and 200 million in 1967.  According to CBS analyst William Frey, a Brookings Institute demographer, the reasons for the U.S. population growth are threefold:  “The birth rate is relatively high, we’re healthier and living longer, but mostly, it’s immigration.”  One immigrant, legal or illegal, comes to the United States every 30 seconds, according to Frey, who predicts that the 300th million person will be either an immigrant or an immigrant’s child.

In just 37 years, 2043, Frey predicts that there will be 400 million Americans.  He believes America, the fastest growing industrialized nation in the world, can sustain its growth.  Mayor Anderson, undoubtedly, hopes Maricopa can do the same.