Category: Demographics
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Urban Vitality in Lynchburg
It’s a fact, Bacon’s Rebellion doesn’t write enough about Lynchburg. So let me remedy that deficiency by highlighting the following factoid: Lynchburg has been highlighted in a Smart Growth America report as one of Top Ten small metros in the United States in which the core city is growing faster than its outlying jurisdictions. Between…
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Crime Drops, But Virginians Pack More Heat
By Peter Galuszka Virginians have been buying more firearms than ever even though crime has been steadily falling. Why? Last year, 420,829 firearms were bought through licensed gun dealers in Virginia. That’s a 73 percent increase from the sales in 2006. Leading the list were pistols (175,717) sold last year, followed by rifles (135,495). Central…
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IG of the Day: Projecting Virginia’s Age Profile
As the massive Baby Boomer generation achieves senior citizen status, as people live longer and as birth rates stagnate, Virginia’s demographic pyramid won’t look very pyramidal anymore. In the future there will be a whole lot more old people, transforming the pyramid into more of a column. Yup, the geezers will be out there, driving…
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It’s Not Your Grandfather’s White Suburb Anymore
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in Business and Economy, Demographics, Economic development, Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, Transportation, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka Virginia’s slow and steady color change from red to blue was underscored again in the Nov. 6 election with Barack Obama once again winning the Old Dominion. As Republicans lick their wounds, they may consider just how reliable GOP bastions of the state are changing and how that very neatly tracks trends…
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Richmond’s Redskins Deal Gets Even Weirder
By Peter Galuszka The deal for the Washington Redskins to build a summer training facility gets richer, more one-sided and more questionable by the day. The latest wrinkle, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch, is that the City of Richmond will use money from its school and jail budgets to pony up a $10 million…
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Virginia Demographic Projections: Read the Fine Print
The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service has just released its Virginia population projections for 2020, and there aren’t many surprises. Growth, according to this report, will continue much as it has in past decades, with the fastest growth taking place (a) in the larger metropolitan regions, especially the urban crescent, and (b) in exurban…
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Chart of the Day: Diversity in America
America’s most diverse counties. Source: Atlantic Cities blog. San Jose, according to the calculations of Jed Kolko, is the most racially diverse metropolitan region in the country: 35% white, 31% Asian, 28% Hispanic, 3% multi-racial and 2% black. New York ranks second. The map above displays diversity for counties across the United States, with greater…
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President Barack Obama!
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in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation, Uncategorized, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka President Barack Obama’s re-election and success with Virginia in Tuesday’s contest could provide a fresh opportunity to solidify more economic recovery than what have otherwise may have happened. It could be a real chance for bipartisan progress. Here’s my takeaway at 2:30 a.m.: Virginia has again shown that it is morphing into…
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No Need for Question 1 on Eminent Domain
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Economic development, Environment, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Planning, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention during this campaign, but Virginia will decide Tuesday whether to go with an amendment resulting in the toughest law in the country regarding eminent domain. Virginia has a law already that requires fair market compensation for private property taken for “Public Good” such as building…
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“The Bay,” The Chesapeake As Horror Movie
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in Agriculture & forestry, Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Environment, Government Finance, Health Care, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Property rights, Science & Technology, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka Imagine you are enjoying a refreshing summertime swim in the Chesapeake Bay or one of the Rivahs. You feel great, but shortly afterwards, you become very ill. Before you know it, new forms of parasitic isopods are eating up your heart, lungs and kidneys. You are terrified, in great pain and you…
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Sandy, Nukes, the Internet and Climate Change
By Peter Galuszka Super-storm Sandy raises more issues about nuclear power, the internet and also about global warming. As the storm struck the New Jersey coast and flooded New York City, three nuclear rectors were shut down because of problems with high water levels and electricity. Another reactor went on standby “alert” because its water…
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Sandy’s Subliminal Messages
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in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Insurance, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Science & Technology, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka You have to love the Richmond Times-Dispatch. They never miss an opportunity to showcase their beloved Republican Gov. Robert F. McDonnell. As Hurricane Sandy approached, our intrepid governor was pictured everywhere: giving a statement about a state of emergency; looking very leader-like in a command center; appearing concerned as in this TD…
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Trouble in the Paradise of Digital Education
By Peter Galuszka The pioneer of for-profit, digital education that we all so love and respect on this blog is in trouble. The University of Phoenix, a behemoth, has announced it is closing down 115 of its on-site locations, including 25 main campuses and 90 smaller ones, according to The New York Times. About 800…
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The Problem Privatizing Virginia Ports Won’t Solve
By Peter Galuszka Many years ago – 37 years to be precise – I stood in the fancy dining room of a blocky-looking Japanese cargo ship and drank a toast to the captain with his Suntory scotch. The ship was docked at Portsmouth Marine Terminals, part of the Virginia Port Authority, and it was an…
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Wolf Trap: the Best of Suburbia
The five best suburban communities in which to live in Virginia are all located in Northern Virginia, if you believe the methodology employed by Caldwell Banker in a national survey of “Suburbanites Best Places to Live.” Wolf Trap took the top honors, sufficient to rank it No. 5 in the entire country, followed by Great…