Population likely to hit 5 million in '08, 6 million by 2018
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News October 17, 2006
Babies are a growth industry in Colorado, but the death rate is as flat as the real estate market.
Net result: a rising population, as more Madisons and Briannas, Jacobs and Joses are born, while the Herberts and Dorothys and Arthurs are hanging on well into their 80s and 90s.
As America celebrates its 300 millionth person today, Colorado posts a population of 4.8 million, plus a faster growth rate than most of the nation.
While the nation is growing at just under 1 percent a year, Colorado's rate is 1.4 percent, with a forecast of 1.8 percent growth in the near future.
That's a rate more typical of developing countries than of most Western democracies.
So far, Colorado has been able to accommodate that rapid growth, including an influx of illegal immigrants, without grinding traffic to a halt or a skyrocketing crime rate.
1 million more in 11 years
Colorado's population is expected to hit 5 million in 2008, just 11 years after it hit the 4 million mark.
And it's expected to reach 6 million by 2018, according to Cindy DeGroen of the state demographer's office.
The Front Range will continue to be the population hub, while in the short term the epicenter will move slightly east - from Jefferson County today to the fast-growing counties of Douglas, Weld and Adams tomorrow.
The number of households also will continue to accelerate, DeGroen said.
In 1950, 3 1/4 people shared each household. Now, it's 2 1/2 people.
The trend of not wanting to share the kitchen and bathroom with too many people seems destined to continue, particularly as more people become empty-nesters.
The houses themselves will be smaller as the huge retirement-age baby boomer generation exercises its clout and demands housing easy to care for and with easier access to entertainment, said Simon Montagu, director of the Denver Regional Council of Government's customer resource and support center.
"They'll want mobility around their houses, want to be closer to the bus lines," Montagu said. "They'll probably demand that we recalibrate the timing of the crosswalks so they have time to walk across."
More wealth than ever before will be in the hands of seniors.
The Central Platte Valley in Denver, now a singles scene, will be taken over by baby boomers, who nonetheless will frequent the microbreweries as part of a happy, active retirement, forecasters project.
As the urban centers sprawl, the number of travel miles will skyrocket, which will make investment in public transportation and alternative fuels even more crucial, Montagu said.
"I'm optimistic," he said. "People at the county and city levels have been working hard to make sure that in 10, 15, 30 years, this is a world-class city."
More diversity on horizon
Meanwhile, Colorado's population will become even more diverse.
The Hispanic fertility rate now is more than double that of non-Hispanic white women and nearly double that of all other ethnic groups combined.
Life expectancy will keep climbing in Colorado - it's now at about 78 years - but at the slower rate of the past six years, rather than the faster rate of the previous century.
Still, the children of the babies born this year may expect to live on average into their 80s and their children almost to 90 on average.
This generation of Coloradans has hit the first-ever plateau - merely equaling their parents' lifestyles, rather than exceeding it, said Joe Pelton, a futurist and space scientist.
"The problem is less of population growth and immigrants, and more of a shift of increasingly higher-paying jobs and better jobs overseas."
To counter that trend and to ensure that Coloradans of the future enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, education will be key and so will environmental sustainability, said Pelton, who recently left the University of Colorado and now teaches at George Washington University.
"Can we adapt? And in a more energy efficient way?
"Given the pressure from China and India, it really is a question of how to create and generate better jobs and well-paying jobs, and in a way that is friendly to the environment."
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