CENSUS VALUABLE TO GROWING JACKSON

The first of the 2000 census figures say the city of Jackson is 52.7 percent female, 96.6 percent white, has a median age of 35.7 years and an average household size of 2.5 persons. Fourteen percent of the city's population is 65 or older.

How that information translates into policy is now up to city administrators to figure out.

The first step to be taken in the wake of the census is to remap the city's ward boundaries in advance of the 2002 election. "We need to find out where the pockets of growth area," says Rodney Bollinger, the city's planning and zoning official. "The ward map probably is going to take a long time to complete."

The census also is essential for creating 911 maps.

The census puts the city's population at 11,947 compared to 9,256 in the 1990 census and 7,827 in the 1980 count. That increase in the past decade has made Jackson the fastest-growing city in Southeast Missouri.

Mayor Paul Sander said the census information can help the city understand more about its growth and the need to build the water, sewer and electrical infrastructure to keep pace.

"We are experiencing tremendous positive growth," he said. "We don't want to fall behind on tracking our growth patterns."

Sander said the data "helps us know what needs to be a priority."

Transportation troubles

The city's growth has been positive from an economic standpoint, Sander says, but it also has saddled the city with drive-time lines of traffic at some intersections and few solutions that don't depend on help from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

One use for the 2000 figures is to buttress the city's case to MoDOT for a new interchange on Interstate 55 at East Main Street.

"We deserve more than we are getting in Southeast Missouri," Sander said.

Sander said the census figures contained no surprises. He does not view the lack of racial diversity as detrimental to the city's children, although they will have fewer opportunities to meet people of different races and ethnicities. "We continue to be a predominantly white community," he said. "I don't know if that's a problem or not. If you're taught correctly at home you grow up respecting everybody. It's just a thing you learn from your parents."

Bollinger said Jackson's comprehensive plan, adopted in 1998, contains a chapter devoted to the community facilities deemed necessary based on population. Goals were set for development projects.

For instance, the city's goal for open space is 2 acres per 100 people. Its goal for swimming pools is 800 square feet of public pools per 1,000 population.

"Those are all ways land use planning and community facility planning census data can work for us," Bollinger said.

A different tack

Walter Denton, the assistant city manager for Cape Girardeau, said none of the census numbers caught his city off guard either, although Cape Girardeau hopes some of the figures will be adjusted higher when the final count comes in. The city thinks there are discrepancies in the count of Southeast Missouri State University students.

The city's planning is not dependent on the census, he said.

"The census gives us good demographic data, but I don't know how much they alter what we do."

He said the city's comprehensive plan and the plans within it the major street plan, the major water plan, the major sewer plan and others are updated continually by the city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission. "We adjust our figures annually."

Jackson census statistics

City of Jackson 2000 census statistics

Sex and age

Male -- 47.3 percent

Female -- 52.7 percent

Median age -- 35.7 years

18 years and over -- 73.4 percent

65 years and over -- 14 percent

Age 25 to 54 -- 43.4 percent

Race

White -- 96.6 percent

Black -- 1.4 percent

Hispanic -- .8 percent

Other -- 1.2 percent

Household by Type

Average household size -- 2.5

Occupied housing units -- 94.9 percent

Owner-occupied housing units -- 71.8 percent

Renter-occupied housing units -- 28.2 percent