While Cook County declines in population, suburban sprawl continues, Kendall second fastest growing county in U.S.

Urban sprawl is sprawling farther and farther from Chicago, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday.

Cheaper housing has drawn people out beyond Chicago's five collar counties, helping to make Kendall County -- about 50 miles west of Chicago -- the second fastest growing county in the nation last year. The population jumped 8.3 percent to 72,548 from 67,018 in 2003.

The only county in the country to outpace Kendall last year was Flagler County on Florida's east coast where the population grew 10.1 percent to 69,005 from 62,696 in 2003, according to the census data.

In Kendall County, there are no signs the growth is slowing.

"There could be a slowdown if you run out of land that can be developed, but I don't see that happening," Powers said. "I think that all developable land will be consumed only by 2020."

Still, Powers knows one factor that could cut into the growth: rising gas prices. Commuters may decide that what they spend on gasoline cancels out what they save in lower taxes and cheaper housing prices, he said.

Behind Kendall, the next fastest growing Illinois county on the national census list was Will, one of the Chicago collar counties. The community southwest of Chicago saw its population climb 4.8 percent to 613,849 in 2004 up from 585,482 the year before.

Other Illinois counties that collar the collar counties saw population bumps too. Boone County, which borders Wisconsin, had a 4.1 percent bump in population to 48,490; Grundy, about 55 miles southwest of Chicago, saw a 3.8 percent rise to 41,069 people; Kankakee saw a modest 0.9 percent increase to 107,188; and DeKalb's rose 2 percent to 95,503.

While some Illinois counties are enjoying growth, 39 out of the state's 102 counties saw some decline in population between 2003 and 2004.

Cook County lost more people between 2000 and 2004 than any county in the nation, according to estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

The new figures--based on administrative records and estimates for births, deaths and net migration--show the county lost nearly 49,000 people, or 0.9 percent, since the last official count in April 2000.

The largest-loser designation can partly be attributed to its massive size because raw numbers were used for the rankings. Still, among the nation's 10 largest counties, Cook County, with 5.3 million residents, was the only to record a population loss during the four-year period.

Warren County led the state in percent of population lost, falling 2.5 percent last year to 17,796 from 18,252. Following Warren in most population lost are Edwards, Scott, Alexander, Greene, and Knox, with a loss of 1 percent.

Behind Kendall, other counties in Illinois with the largest growth were Will, Boone, Grundy, Kane, McHenry, Monroe, and DeKalb, all of whom had growth over 2 percent.

Rock Island county's population has held steady, with a loss of only 41 residents,less than a tenth of a percent.
Whiteside's grew by 59 or 0.1 percent.
Mercer's grew by 43 or 0.3 percent.
Henry county's population declined by 194 or -0.4 percent
and Carroll county lost 42 or -0.3 percent.