Fort Collins growth outpaces state, county

Roughly 156,480 people called Fort Collins home in 2014, according to population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The city grew by 11,975 residents — 8 percent — from 2010 to July 2014, outpacing both the state and Larimer County's growth rates. Of the 271 incorporated Colorado municipalities included the data, Fort Collins was the 26th-fastest growing.

"Those numbers weren't surprising to us," Fort Collins Planning Manager Cameron Gloss said. The growth is consistent with city projections.

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Census population estimates help the city identify infrastructure and resource needs, Gloss said. "They can impact the capital improvement plan and the comprehensive plan."

Fort Collins remains the largest municipality within Larimer County, though Loveland, Wellington, Windsor and Timnath are all growing at a faster clip.

Census data show Timnath was by far the state's fastest-growing municipality from 2010 to 2014. The rural town east of Fort Collins more than tripled in size during the last five years, going from 628 residents in 2010 to 1,983 in 2014.

"Timnath is a fun one to watch," State Demographer Elizabeth Garner said. "They're obviously feeling the growth because they started from a very small base size."

The town's increase in population is propelled by new housing units in the area. Timnath issued 172 building permits for single-family homes in 2014 — more than double than the 64 issued in 2010.

Managing growth is different for each community, Garner said. "It all depends on how ready you are for it and how well you planned."

Garner said the state considers growth of less than 1 percent as marginal, growth of between 2 percent and 3 percent as fairly fast, and anything above 3 percent accelerated.

Timnath grew by 28.9 percent year over year in 2014 compared to a 2.7 percent growth rate in Fort Collins and a 1.6 percent rate statewide.

Demographics on who the new residents are are planned to be released by the census later this year.

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Growth & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached at 970-224-7835 or Twitter.com/adriandgarcia.

Area Growth

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