Kendall, Will See Boom

Census shows counties rank among fastest growing areas in the nation

By Amy Boerema
aboerema@dailyherald.com
Posted Thursday, June 28, 2007

Residents continue flocking to Kendall andWill counties, putting added pressure on planners and government officials trying to keep pace with the rapid growth.

Numbers released today by the U.S. Census Bureau show Kendall is the nation’s second-fastest growing county, with Will and Boone also breaking the top 100.

Kendall’s population rose to 88,158 in July 2006, a 62 percent increase from April 2000, numbers show.

Florida’s Flagler County tops the list of fastest-growing counties, with an additional 33,249 residents, up 67 percent in the past six years.

Will County, No. 36 on the list, saw a 33 percent population surge, swelling to 668,217 residents. Boone County, No. 87, saw a 26 percent increase to 52,617.

The increases aren’t a big surprise to residents of those areas, many of whom have faced traffic delays on increasingly congested roads or numerous tax increase requests.

And they’re not a big surprise to county and municipal planners, either, many of whom have been struggling to find funding to provide adequate services.

Many newcomers are moving to Will and Kendall from nearby towns, especially those in DuPage County, because of improvements to roads such as I-55 and I-355, leaders say.

Many are young families looking for first or second homes with bigger lots, and many of their older relatives are following them.

“They’re finding housing a bit more affordable here,” said Will County board member Wayne McMillan of Bolingbrook. “(But) they’re also starting to realize they’re not going to save that much in taxes, too.” Lynn Dubajic, executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corp., calls the growth both an opportunity and motivator for businesses and residents. It means more jobs, which ultimately will keep people working and spending locally, she said.

Yorkville’s shaping up to be Kendall County’s economic hub, she said. It is the government seat, and has a medical campus and a regional shopping district set to open next year.

The growth also raises challenges. The term “space crunch,” for example, applies to any number of things in Will County, such as its roads, the county jail and the courthouse.

The majority of growth-related complaints are about the roads, said county board member Charles Maher of Naperville. “They’re either there or not there for them,” he said.

Northern Will County —parts of Bolingbrook, Plainfield and Naperville —are particularly feeling the crunch, leaders say.

In addition to specific projects— officials plan to extend Naperville-Plainfield Road from 95th Street to 111th Street in the next year, for example —they’re also thinking long term.

A major transportation plan is in the works to help clearly define growing areas and major routes in need of renovation for the next two decades.

“It’s fine to complain about it, but we need to find some ways to alleviate it,” McMillan said. More people also means more crime. County officials are expanding their Joliet jail so it can hold 1,100 people. Its current capacity is 325, though it’s held double that on some weekends.

“We’ve gotten critics who say we haven’t done any planning for the jail,” McMillan said. “But all you have to do is take them down here and say, ‘Here’s a $70 million addition done without any increase to taxpayer money.’”

That won’t be possible for easing a space crunch at the courthouse. Leaders have said building a new one could cost $100 million, money they don’t have now.

“I don’t see us going out and going to referendum for $100 million,” McMillan said. “(I don’t think) we would get voter approval for it.”

Municipalities and counties will have to find ways to work together to address such challenges, planners say.

So far, that’s not been done well on a consistent basis, said MarySue Barrett, president of Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council.

Though she sees “pockets of innovation,” such as the I-88 corridor, it’s been hard for towns to work across boundaries, she said.

Local officials are lacking assistance and the incentives to do so, she said. “If we could change some things, like property tax reform— if there was less a winner-take-all system in sales and property taxes— incentives would be different for communities to collaborate,” she said. Balanced growth is a sign of health, she said, and “we just want to make sure every part of the region has a mix of the assets they need.”