Heather Sumowski, who moved to Warner Robins after a tree fell on her south Macon home in 2008, has plenty of company.
She, her partner Chris Barerre and their 4-year-old son, Elan, are just a small part of Houston County’s 26 percent growth over the past decade.
“I got here and loved it,” said Sumowski, 41. “Why would I ever go back to Macon? I never plan to leave here.”
U.S. Census Bureau numbers released Thursday show not only Houston’s growth but also strong growth in Jones, Monroe and Peach counties. The city of Macon continued to bleed people -- particularly whites -- while others left Twiggs and Wilkinson counties. Meanwhile, numbers of Hispanics and Asians grew across Middle Georgia.
Houston’s population jumped by about 29,100 people between 2000 and 2010. The county’s cities -- Warner Robins, Perry and Centerville -- all reported double-digit growth for the decade.
The shift puts Houston on track to become Middle Georgia’s largest county. As it stands, according to the latest count, Houston has 139,900 residents compared with Bibb County’s 155,547 population.
But Houston is quickly gaining ground.
On average, each day during the decade, Houston added eight people. It took Bibb two and a half weeks to grow that much.
Houston County’s growth was also broadly multiracial. It added about 12,600 blacks and about 10,500 whites, while roughly doubling the number of Asians and multiracial residents. The number of Hispanics swelled even more, to 2½ times as the level of the 2000 census.
“Phenomenal growth,” said Doug Bachtel, a University of Georgia demographer. “But that’s not surprising given that it’s a suburban bedroom community for Macon. You’ve got the base there, and you’ve got good transportation. And of course, Americans are enamored of suburban living. You’ve got a pretty good school system. You’ve got the categories lined up there, and people gravitate to that.”
Warner Robins, fueled by annexation and a good job market supported by Robins Air Force Base, added about 17,800 people, up 36.4 percent. Perry grew to about 13,800 people, up 44.1 percent. Centerville, the smallest of the communities but home to the Galleria mall, grew to about 7,100 people, up 67 percent. Put another way, two of every five Centerville residents weren’t there a decade ago.
Sumowski said Warner Robins isn’t perfect, however.
“I wish there were more stores. There are negatives. This town has an ugly downtown. There’s no character to it, but I overlook that because I love my neighborhood,” she said.
The census numbers were no surprise to Houston officials, County Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said.
“It shows people want to live here. It shows that they are moving to Houston County and its three major cities for the opportunities,” Stalnaker said. “We have a great school system, and we have plenty of job opportunities. We have a low crime rate. That’s why people want to live here, and that’s why they stay here.”
Stalnaker said Houston struggles to provide roads, water, sewer and other services.
“I would rather have the challenges of growth than face a county on the decline any day,” he said.
Macon, Twiggs, Wilkinson see numbers shrink
Houston County’s growth came at the expense of Macon. Middle Georgia’s largest city lost about 5,900 people from the 2000 count, falling to 91,351. It lost about 8,400 whites alone. More blacks, Hispanics and people of several racial groups moved in.
Bibb County, which includes most of Macon, gained fewer than 1,700 people overall during the decade. The county also lost about 10,000 white people during the decade, swinging the county from 50.4 percent to 57.9 percent minority. Numbers of blacks and Hispanic residents increased.
Macon Mayor Robert Reichert said Macon and Bibb County need to work together, better.
“It should serve as a wake-up call,” Reichert said. “Surrounding counties are eating our lunch, and if we don’t get our act together, we’re not going to be competitive to attracting people, businesses and a tax base, and that is essential to a thriving community.”
Reichert said rebuilding efforts in neighborhoods like College Hill and Tindall Heights are making urban Macon living better, which should draw more residents and reverse the decline, he said.
“People want to live, work and play, all within walking distance,” Reichert said. “There’s a national trend toward urban living now, and the new generation of people are not looking for a house on 3 acres in the country. They’re looking for a loft apartment and the creative class that they find in center-city neighborhoods.”
Twiggs and Wilkinson counties, where the kaolin industry has been struggling, lost hundreds of residents. Bachtel said those population shifts have probably been caused by the economic realities of a limited industrial and tax base.
“If a major employer leaves, boom, you’ve got people leaving,” Bachtel said. “They’ve got to have jobs. So with the lack of a diversified economy, that’s the only game in town, so they’ve got to go.”
Bedroom communities grow
Monroe officials said that county’s 21 percent increase was expected but would have been higher if the economy hadn’t soured. The county reached a population of 26,424.
“If it weren’t for the economy, it would have been probably 30,000,” Commissioner Larry Evans said. “But because of the downside of the economy and the housing crisis, there are several subdivisions that went bankrupt.” He guessed at least 100 houses in the county had never been occupied, but he predicts the county will continue to swell.
“This growth is going to continue,” he said. “We’re right in the middle of Macon and Atlanta and less than an hour from Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta International) Airport.”
Monroe officials have been adding water, fire and sheriff’s services to the north and south ends of the county. The county added some residents when the Department of Corrections moved its headquarters to the former Tift College Campus in Forsyth, but other new residents are commuting to Atlanta.
“This is a bedroom community,” he said. “We’re expanding as we speak.”
Jones officials agreed and said the housing crisis kept them from hitting 30,000 residents in 2010. The county grew 21 percent to 28,669.
“They were building homes up here right and left,” Jones County Commission Chairman Preston Hawkins said. “They were wearing the school system out.”
Many residents came from Bibb, but an industrial park is drawing new businesses and residents, Hawkins said. Others move for the lifestyle that’s still close to Macon and Milledgeville.
“It’s good country living,” Hawkins said. “People know each other a little better than they do in a big town.”
More Asians, Hispanics
Though total numbers remain comparatively small, the Asian and Hispanic communities saw rapid growth over the last decade, according to census results.
Across an 11-county region that comprises Bibb, Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Crawford, Twiggs, Wilkinson, Baldwin, Bleckley and Laurens counties, the Asian community grew 68 percent, to 7,811. It nearly doubled in Houston County.
Even faster was growth in the Hispanic community: Macon’s increased 94 percent to 2,264, while Bibb County saw 117 percent growth to 4,389. In the 11-county region, the Hispanic community grew 117 percent, from 8,591 to 18,646.
“I have seen the growth, definitely,” said Moises Velez, local Hispanic community organizer and publisher of the ¿Que Pasa? Spanish-language newspaper. That paper used to print 10,000 copies monthly but increased that to 12,000, he said.
Velez said many Hispanics come from Puerto Rico and Panama to work at Robins Air Force Base and enjoy a low cost of living.
“You can make your money go further, and that way they can send some money back home,” he said.
Agriculture draws others, and many of those people stay to start their own businesses as roofers or landscapers, trying to support their families.
“I guess that’s what America is all about,” he said.
Houston’s Hispanic population surged 153 percent, but it has become less welcoming, Velez said. Macon still seems friendlier to Hispanic immigrants. Numbers of Hispanic residents doubled in Macon, but still have a third of the population share as in Warner Robins. An established Hispanic community makes it easier for newcomers to fit in, with familiar churches and stores, he said.
Ning Chiou, co-owner of the Mandarin Chinese restaurant on Riverside Drive and a local resident since 1998, said she hasn’t seen much growth in the number of direct immigrants from Asia because there’s not much to offer them locally.
“I think, most people I come across, they’ve been here for a long time,” she said.
It’s a different story for Asian-Americans born in the United States or who have been in the country for many years, Chiou said. They may come to buy or start businesses.
“Without the business, we wouldn’t be here,” Chiou said. Students of Asian descent drawn to Mercer University’s medical and law schools also have strong incentives to stay, she said.
Telegraph writers Jim Gaines, Caryn Grant, Shelby G. Spires and Mike Stucka contributed to this report.
