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Oregon's population growth slows From wire and staff reports Maybe people are finally taking to heart former Gov. Tom McCall's famous catch-phrase to come and visit, but "for heaven's sake, don't come here to live." Oregon is drawing half the out-of-state newcomers it was just a year ago and a quarter of what it did in the early 1990s, according to newly released population estimates from the Center for Population Research and Census at Portland State University. The state population grew just 1 percent between July 1998 and July 1999, the smallest increase in a decade. All together, Oregon's population grew by 32,050 last year and people moving here from other states accounted for more than half -- 16,463 -- of that total. That compares with the more than 30,000 people who moved into Oregon annually between 1987 and 1997, said Barry Edmonston, director of the PSU center. The slow statewide growth percentage was mirrored in Jackson County where the population grew by 1,750 -- 1 percent -- to 174,550. Josephine County's population grew by 400 people -- 0.5 percent -- to 73,400. The preliminary statewide numbers -- heavily weighted by the Portland area -- reflect last winter's economic slowdown in the high-tech industry because of the Asian economic crisis and an unemployment rate that was the fourth highest in the nation in August, Edmonston said. At the same time, the California economy has surged. Californians, who typically make up one-third of the people moving to Oregon, may have chosen to stay home. And people in other Western states may have headed to California instead of Oregon. "If you are worried about high population growth, it's good news because growth is slowing down and the impact on land use, traffic and housing will be less," said Kanhaiya Vaidya, a demographer with the state Office of Economic Analysis. "At the same time, slower growth is an indicator of slower economic growth, so it has its pluses and minuses." Analysts say the slowing rate of growth most likely would affect the construction and service industries, which may count on continued high growth. "If you're a housing developer, it's probably an alarm, especially if you're a spec builder and your hope was people were going to stream in," said Tom Potiowsky, state economist. It's obvious that growth is slowing in many cities and counties. Portland's population grew by 2,785 or 0.5 percent. Beaverton lost an estimated 190 people. But Rogue Valley cities showed solid growth, suggesting that Southern Oregon's economy is still expanding, while other areas slow. Medford grew by 1,095 people or 1.9 percent to 59,990 (it's still projected to surpass 60,000 by year's end). Ashland grew 1.4 percent to 19,490, Central Point nearly 4 percent to 11,700, and Grants Pass 1.7 percent to 20,935. Bend was a fast-growing city, with a population jump of 15,000 to 50,649 or 42.1 percent. But much of the increase was because of the city's annexing land out to its urban growth boundary, Mayor Jim Young said. Meanwhile, Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Lake, Sherman, Wallowa and Wheeler counties showed zero population change, while Coos County registered a slight loss of people. Still, Edmonston and others maintain that Oregon has hardly lost its luster for migrants from out of state. Rural areas have staved off the substantial drops in population such as those seen in the Dakotas. And population hot spots are still erupting, mostly along the Interstate 5 corridor and Central Oregon, as they have been for nine years. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA