Downtown Suffolk Revitalization Plan through Arts - College of ...

Demographics
Total Population
A demographic study illustrates the characteristics of Suffolk residents and compares
those characteristics over time. In 2000, the City of Suffolk contained 63,677 residents.
Of those residents, 14,637 lived in the major census tracts (tracts 651, 652, 653, 654, and
655) that comprise Downtown Suffolk, which is 22% of the total city population.
Comparing these numbers to the previous 1990 census and illustrated in Table 1 below,
the Downtown Census tracts shrunk by 375 residents, a decline of 2.5%. On the other
hand, the entire City grew by 11,563 residents, or a 22.1% increase.
Table 1 – Suffolk Population
Downtown Suffolk City of Suffolk
1900 Population 15012 52141
2000 Population 14637 63677
Difference -375 11536
10
Census tract 751 at the far north east section of the city increased by 4323 residents,
gaining the most residents per tract by total number and by percentage at 140 percent.
Another large growth tracts is tract 754 gaining 3749 residents and growing 81 percent.
Census tract 758, the southwest corner of the city, lost the most residents at 806, which is
12.7 percent of that population. Suffolk is part of the Norfolk - Virginia Beach MSA, the
nations 23 rd largest metropolitan area at 1.56 million residents. This MSA increased by
173,434 residents since 1990, an increase of 12.4%. Virginia increased by 14.4%. Using
these regional and state benchmarks, Suffolk grew just under twice as fast as both.
The Virginia Employment Commission creates population projections for the year
2010. This organization projects Suffolk to contain 75,000 residents by 2010. According
to other projection services this number could be much higher. The Census Bureau
reports yearly estimates using a very complicated methodology. Their latest figure is for
2003, and the city at that time is reported to contain 73,515 residents, a gain of 9,800
residents in only four years, or about 2,500 residents a year. If this number remains
constant for the next several years, the city will gain an additional 25,000 residents and
have a 2010 population of 88,200 residents.
Race
The racial make up of Suffolk is quite diverse. The white population is 53.7% of
the total city population, the African American population is 43.4%, and all other races