Parish population shows slight growth

    Although we are still five years away from an official tally of populations, interim estimates indicate Avoyelles Parish has had a small increase in overall population. Most of the growth is in the rural areas. Most, if not all, municipalities have lost population. Two interim population estimates differ on whether the nine municipalities’ populations have gone up or down, but both agree that a lower percentage of the parish population lives within an incorporated municipality.

     It is a bit of a stretch to say Avoyelles is becoming “more rural,” because most of those who live in the seven smaller municipalities are classified as “rural” in the population designations.

     While the shift from incorporated to unincorporated is by no means a flood -- nor even, really, much of a trickle -- there does appear to be a noticeable shift.

    The Louisiana Municipal Association said a city is a municipality of 5,000 or more. A town has a population of 1,000-4,999. A village has less than 1,000 residents. By those definitions, the parish has one city, four towns and four villages.

    A spokesperson for the LMA said municipalities gain and lose town and city status due to population changes from one Census to another.

In 2010, Avoyelles Parish had a population of 42,073. Of that, 17,748 -- almost 42.2 percent -- lived in the nine municipalities.

    The latest interim estimate of the parish’s population by the City-Data.com website was for 2012, when it was thought the parish’s population was 41,632. City-Data estimated the nine municipalities’ populations for 2013 at 17,416 -- just over 41.8 percent of the total.

Another online population estimate source, LA HomeTownLocator.com, has an estimate as of July 1, 2014 of 42,566 total population with 17,731 -- 41.6 percent -- in the municipalities. That source shows population growth inside and outside of the incorporated areas, but with unincorporated population outpacing the “townies.”

 

      Although Bunkie is still usually referred to as the City of Bunkie, it lost official claim to that designation in 2000 when the Census found its population had fallen from 5,260 to 4,662.

      Bunkie stopped being the parish’s smallest city and became its largest town.

      LMA confirmed that it considers Bunkie to be a town, not a city.

      Bunkie’s population dropped over 400, to 4,171, in the 2010 Census. City-Data estimated the town’s 2013 population at 4,092. HomeLocator reports the town’s 2014 estimated population at 3,864.

      Marksville’s population has been yo-yoing, but has been statistically flat for the past 25 years. It was 5,795 in 1990, 5,609 in 2000, 5,707 in 2010 and had a 2013 estimate of 5,593 -- its lowest population since 1990. It can take hope in HomeLocator’s estimate of 5,815, which is its highest population figure in that time period. Most of that increase appears to be related to recent annexations.

     The other seven municipalities also showed slight drops in population in City-Data’s interim estimate. HomeLocator estimated small increases in four municipalities and slight drops in the other three. 

    The relative rank of the nine municipalities by population has not changed from the 2010 Census, although the HomeLocator estimates narrow the gap between Simmesport and Cottonport for the No. 3 position.

 

     Finding population comparison figures for unincorporated communities in between U.S. Censuses is more difficult than getting estimates for municipalities and parishes. However, we were able to find some information showing growth in the Centerpoint,  Bordelonville and Fifth Ward communities.

    HomeLocator noted Bordelonville grew from 525 in 2010 to an estimated 552 in 2014. Fifth Ward went from 800 to 812.

    We found a third source, Sperling’s Best Places.com, to find figures showing Centerpoint increased from 492 to 519. Sperling’s estimated Effie’s population declined from  1,036 to 919, after posting a significant increase from the 2000 Census that showed 659 residents in that area.

    Dax Roy, of Dax Roy Appraisals Inc., said he does appraisals mostly on new construction “and almost all new construction is outside of the towns.”

    Roy said there is a definite trend toward moving out of the municipalities and into larger tracts in the unincorporated areas.

    “I have talked to a lot of people who are moving out of the towns for a variety of reasons. One is that they have more options with land in the rural areas. Lots with 2-5 acres are in high demand.”

    Roy said young families wishing to build their own homes are moving out of the municipalities and purchasing tracts large enough for them to build outdoor kitchens, workshops, sheds for RVs and other buildings in addition to the house.

     “Another thing they are saying is that they feel safer in the rural areas,” Roy said. “They also say they are tired of the politics in the municipalities. They don’t feel like they are part of the process anymore.”

 

    Tammy LaBorde, parish permit office supervisor, said that rainier than normal weather has brought new permits to a crawl for this time of year, but new residential construction does appear to be almost all in the unincorporated areas. The parish office does not issue permits for Marksville, Bunkie and Moreauville. Bunkie and Moreauville started issuing their own permits late last year. Marksville has been issuing its own permits for a few years.

     LaBorde said last year the office issued 47 permits for new residential construction. Of that number, 45 were in the unincorporated areas and only two were within a municipality.

     Rene Borrel, the engineer working with the Marksville, Bunkie and Moreauville permit offices, said Marksville issued approximately 20 residential construction permits last year. He said Bunkie began its permit office around mid-year and issued five or six in the last half of 2014. Moreauville began its permit office later in the year and issued one or two residential construction permits.

     Borrel said he does not see a full-fledged flight from the municipalities, but did note that most new development is outside the towns due to land availability.

     “There is some growth on both sides of the Red River,” Borrel said. “There is development in the Fifth Ward and Hickory Hill areas and in Ward 1 along the river.”

     Borrel said he does not envision Marksville “shrinking, as such, but unless it annexes undeveloped land, there is not a lot places for it to grow.”