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California Cities Palmdale, Lancaster Outpace State's Population Growth

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 May 2004, 06:00 CDT

May 5--PALMDALE, Calif. -- Palmdale and Lancaster continued last year's population growth rates that outpace the state and Los Angeles County but remain well below the pace of the booming 1980s and 1990s, officials said Tuesday.

Palmdale grew by 4,070 residents in 2003 to 131,295, an increase of 3.1 percent, according to a population estimate by the state Finance Department. Two years ago, Palmdale edged Lancaster in population after years of gaining on its northern neighbor.

Lancaster grew slightly slower, at 2.6 percent, adding 3,300 residents to reach an estimated 129,200 residents.

"It seems to be moderate growth," said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford.

"I think we're doing a pretty fair job of accommodating it."

Although the growth is moderate, there are major issues looming that the region's leaders must address for the future, including water, sewer, and education, Ledford said.

"We need to think regionally about how to accommodate growth," Ledford said.

Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts said he expects his city's population growth to increase in coming years. The city is seeing "a parade of people with plans under their arms" seeking building permits.

"There are houses going up everywhere," Roberts said. "The housing prices are going up. The housing starts are going up."

State officials announced annual population estimates for cities in part because some local-government revenue is based on population.

The state does not provide annual population estimates for unincorporated communities like Lake Los Angeles, Acton and Quartz Hill.

Cities receive $50 per resident from motor-vehicle license fees and $70 per resident from the state gasoline tax, grants and transportation development funds.

The population increases will provide about $488,400 for Palmdale and $396,000 for Lancaster.

Two decades ago, Palmdale had little more than a quarter of Lancaster's population, but that changed starting in the early 1980s when a population boom more than doubled Lancaster's population and increased Palmdale's more than tenfold.

Populations in 1980 were 12,227 in Palmdale and 47,882 in Lancaster.

The state's overall population grew 1.5 percent last year, bringing the estimated population to 36,144,000.

The growth rate for Los Angeles County was 1.4 percent. The state estimates the county has 10,103,000 residents.

The fastest growing city in California was the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, which grew 27 percent to 109,100 people.

The municipal population estimates are based on changes in housing stock, including new construction, demolitions, housing unit conversions, and annexations of property into city boundaries, according to the state finance department.

County and state populations are based on a variety of information, including birth and death counts, driver's license address change information, school enrollments, legal immigration data, and Medicare and Medicaid data.

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(c) 2004, Daily News, Los Angeles. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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