Sumter, Lake among nation’s fastest growing counties
By Michael Harris
According to the United States Census Bureau, Sumter County ranks second in the top 100 counties for fastest growth from 2000 to 2008.
Lake County was 58th and 10 Florida counties are on the list, including Flagler County, which was No. 1.
Much of the growth of the two counties can be attributed to the expansion of The Villages in Sumter and the growth in South Lake County.
“No question. That is a big reason as to why Sumter is solid,” says Sumter County Commissioner and Villages resident Dick Hoffman. “And the residential growth brings in business growth in services and retail.”
There were an estimated 25,196 homes in Sumter County in 2000, by 2008 there were 46,140, a mark of 83 percent in eight years. Flagler had 100 percent growth and doubled the amount of houses from 2000.
In the future, The Villages will only get bigger. Expansion continues to progress east of Wildwood with roads cleared to Highway 44.
“If you travel down 466A out of Fruitland Park, between 44 and 466A is all development for The Villages,” Hoffman says. “Highway 44 is the extent of that, but that won’t be fully developed for five or six years.”
In Lake County in 2000 there were 102,801 homes and by the year 2008 there were 143,580. A big part of that can be the growth of Clermont and South Lake County.
“Part of the reason of the growth is due to the county rezoning much of the land for residential and Clermont annexed it,” said Lake County Commissioner Elaine Renick.
Renick was on Clermont’s city commission from 2000 to 2006 and has seen the growth along Highway 50, east of U.S. Highway 27 and south of 50 and along 27.
The population of Clermont was estimated at 9,333 in 2000 and, according to the city of Clermont Web site, the population is at 24,199 and has since surpassed Leesburg (19,086).
“If you look at what prompted the change in growth, I think it was when Clermont got a Turnpike exit,” Renick says. “Many saw an easy way to get to Orlando. Part of that is the location and being so close to Orlando and Disney.
For the list of the top 100 growing counties go to: http://www.census.gov/popest/housing/HU-EST2008-top100.html
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