As noted in this morning’s AJC, the latest and greatest “American Community Survey” has just been released by the Census bureau, and while there’s no listing for the city of Decatur, there is a breakout for the City of Decatur School District.  As the AJC notes…

For the first time, this ongoing statistical portrait of America included information from geographic areas with a population of less than 60,000. The 2010 census and the ACS will help determine the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal tax funds yearly.

So without further ado, here are some random estimates about us, in no particular order.

• 326 females had a baby in the last year (give or take 154 babies), with the 35-50 year old demographic birthing the most babies.
• There are around 1,500 veterans inside the city limits (give or take 469 veterans)
• English (18.9%) , Irish (14.8%) and German (14.6%) are the largest ancestry groups.
• 69% of us commuted to work in a car, alone.  7% took public transit, 4.5% walked and 9.6% worked at home.
• 38% of Decaturites live in households that make in excess of $100,000 a year.
• Over half the city’s housing stock was built prior to 1959.
• 42% of households have one car, while 6% have three or more.
• Decatur is 57.5% female, 73.5% white and 22.8% black.

More evidence that Decatur residents are on the right side of the population trend (writes the sweaty MARTA commuter)

The AJC reports that the city of Atlanta added 20,623 people to its census from 2006-2007; the seventh largest jump nationwide. According to the article, it’s perhaps the largest population in the city’s history.

On a related note, I noticed that the city of Decatur was quoted with now having just over 19,000 in this recent article about cops in Dunwoody (not sure of the source).

What’s all this mounting evidence show?

Like it or not, Atlanta and Decatur’s populations will continue to grow as people begin to feel the pinch from an unsustainable lifestyle in the ‘burbs. Some will inevitably miss the “small town feel” that the city once had, but in my humble opinion this nationwide transition is inevitable. City policies have done their best to make sure that Decatur handled this influx in a way that maintained a walkable, well thought-out community. But sometimes it seems like the policies that get blamed for our growing population. We can pretend like real estate values haven’t skyrocketed in the past 5 years and lament what’s been lost, blaming it all on the catch-all “city”. Or we can recognize and embrace this transition, making sure we have a say in how we handle this new popularity.

Just my two cents.