Shrinking Towns

Even as the U.S. population grows, small towns and counties across the nation are losing people.

1 minute read

May 10, 2001, 4:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"[It is] a decline that the 2000 census found sweeping through the small towns of the Great Plains. While the nation's population grew 13 percent in the 1990's, the Census Bureau found that 676 of the nation's 3,141 counties lost people...Most of the decline was in wheat, ranching and oil country in Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota and the Dakotas. In Kansas, for example, there are now more "frontier counties" ? defined by the census as having from two to six people per square mile ? than there were in 1890.

Thanks to Chris Serjak

Thursday, May 10, 2001 in The New York Times

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 20, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A pencil rendering of Foundry Park, which shows skyscrapers and public green spaces.

Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment

The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.

October 23, 2026 - Chicago Sun Times

A yellow, two-story building named Ferns with two American flags.

This MA town is drowning in its own sewage — and residents like it that way

Susan Murcott, a waste water expert, said if Carlisle didn't address their leaking sewage, the problem could turn “deadly.”

October 22, 2026 - Boston Globe

A pig poking its snout between the bars.

Iowa taxpayers are paying thousands to clean manure out of their water

While the Clean Water Act makes states responsible for regulating factory farms that discharge pollutants, Iowa has turned a blind eye to the polluting farms.

October 27 - Inside Climate News

Amtrak officials cut the ribbon at the new Seattle facility.

Amtrak cuts ribbon on Seattle Airo maintenance facility

The $250 million, nearly 100,000-square-foot building can house an entire Cascades Airo trainset.

October 27 - Railway Supply

One of Google's power plants pumping pollution into the air.

To power data centers, Google seeks autonomous control of thousands of homes’ electricity

The tech company has signed a deal to indirectly pay Mid-Atlantic residents to reduce their power demand when the grid is strained.

October 27 - New York Times