June 24, 2004

Nashua suffered the second-highest population loss among New Hampshire’s cities last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today.

Nashua’s loss of 0.36 percent dropped the city’s population to 87,285, the data showed.

Berlin topped the list with a 0.6 percent loss, declining to slightly more than 10,100 people. Portsmouth, with a 0.12 percent loss, fell to about 21,000 people. Both numbers still remained above the cities’ 2000 populations.

One planning expert in Nashua sees the national trend of evolving living patterns possibly affecting population here. “In general, household sizes are going down, and kids are moving out of the home,” said Stephen Williams, executive director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. “There are more single-person households.”

Williams also points to Nashua having significant job losses last year.

“If people don’t have jobs,” he said, “you can’t stick around long.”

Planners, for some time, have expected Nashua to peak in growth, given that most city land has been built out, Williams said. Now the city is undergoing a redevelopment, he said.

“It doesn’t mean Nashua is dead and dying. The pattern is changing,” he said.

“The city is changing with the times. In fact, many people tell me the city is more vibrant and alive than it was 10 years ago.”

Berlin’s population decline likely stems from long-term economic difficulties, said Dean Christon, New Hampshire Housing and Finance Authority deputy executive director.

Over time, he said, the trend has created a housing surplus in the city “almost unique in the state.”

Berlin is in northern New Hampshire, while Nashua and Portsmouth are both in the state’s southeastern region. Key towns near the state’s southern border with Massachusetts also suffered population declines, including Merrimack, with 0.09 percent, and Derry, with 0.08 percent.

But other cities and towns in the region grew.

Manchester added 0.55 percent to its population and remains the state’s largest city.

It grew from slightly more than 107,000 people in 2000 to an estimated 108,871 last year.

Manchester Mayor Robert Baines said the city had become a “dynamic urban center” after several years of steady economic growth.

That growth, he added, resulted in both new jobs and more housing.

“We’ve been bucking all the national economic trends,” he said.

Baines described the city’s infrastructure as another draw for residents. Manchester’s long-range planning has let it make steady investments in public services nearby communities haven’t been able to match, he said.

“We own our own water system,” he said, “which Nashua doesn’t.”

Other areas in the region gaining population included Windham, with 3.38 percent; Pelham, with 2.81 percent; Hudson, with 1.66 percent; and Salem, with 0.57 percent.

Statewide, the population increased by 1.04 percent. Towns scattered throughout New Hampshire experienced the highest individual gains. They were Springfield, East Kingston, Bow and Barnstead. Springfield’s population grew by 5.07 percent, Barnstead’s by 4.25.

Belknap County, near Lake Winnipesaukee, increased by 2 percent, the largest among the state’s counties. Coos County grew the least, with a 0.01 percent change. No county’s population declined.