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The Franklin and Hampshire Adult Education Planning area
which includes Athol (in Worcester County) has a total population of 235,085
according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The
two counties without Athol have a population of 223,786. The region is predominantly rural and
Franklin County alone covers 725
square miles and in 2000 had a population of 71,535 people, a density of 98.7
people per square mile. It is the most
rural county in the Commonwealth.[i] Greenfield is by far the largest town
in Franklin County as well as the economic hub with a population of
18,168. The main population areas in
our planning region in Hampshire County are in Amherst with a population 34,874
and Northampton, population 28,978. The total land area of the entire planning
area is approximately 1400 square miles, 17% of the state.
From 1990 to 2000,
the population of both counties grew at a slower rate than the state as a whole
(2.6% vs. 5.53% for Franklin, 3.88 vs. 5.53 for Hampshire). [1] The greatest losses were in Greenfield,
Athol, attributable to any number of factors, drops in available employment in
the region being one of them.
Tables 1.0
Population Franklin and Hampshire
Counties (plus Athol)
|
|
Population 2000 |
Population (1990) |
Difference
1990-2002 |
Percent Change
1990-2002 |
|
Franklin County |
71,535 |
70,092 |
1,443 |
2.06% |
|
Hampshire County |
152,251 |
146,568 |
5,683 |
3.88% |
|
ATHOL |
11,299 |
11,451 |
-152 |
-1.33% |
|
Greater Service Area |
235,085 |
228,111 |
6,974 |
3.06% |
|
Massachusetts |
6,349,097 |
6,016,425 |
332,672 |
5.53% |
Athol
(in Worcester county) is a major town in the North Quabbin region of the
Franklin Hampshire Adult Basic Education Service Area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau,
Census 2000, Redistricting Data Summary File (P.L. 94-171) and Census 1990 STF1a
Table 1.1
Population: Major Towns Sorted By
Population (2000)
|
|
Population 2000 |
Population (1990) |
Difference
1990-2002 |
Percent Change
1990-2002 |
|
|
AMHERST
|
34,874 |
35,228 |
-354 |
-1.00% |
|
|
NORTHAMPTON
|
28,978 |
29,289 |
-311 |
-1.06% |
|
|
GREENFIELD
|
18,168 |
18,666 |
-498 |
-2.67% |
|
|
ATHOL
|
11,299 |
11,451 |
-152 |
-1.33% |
|
|
WARE
|
9,707 |
9,808 |
-101 |
-1.03% |
|
|
MONTAGUE
|
8,489 |
8,316 |
173 |
2.08% |
|
|
ORANGE
|
7,518 |
7,312 |
206 |
2.82% |
|
|
Massachusetts |
6,349,097 |
6,016,425 |
332,672 |
5.53% |
|
|
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Redistricting
Data Summary File (P.L. 94-171) and Census 1990 STF1a |
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Population by Race
A 1997 Mass Inc report states that since the 1980's the foreign
born population has slowly increased, reaching 11.6% in the 1990s. In fact, if
not for the arrival of immigrants Massachusetts' population would actually be
smaller today than it was in the 1970s.
Our local figures reveal that Franklin County continues to be
mostly white (98.4%) while 3.5% of
the population of Greenfield, Franklin County’s largest town, was Latino in
2000. The Latino members of the community are primarily of Mexican and Puerto
Rican origin, however the census doesn't specify the equally large number of
"other" Hispanic groups (see Tables 2.1,2.2,2.3).
Franklin
County
From 1990 to 2000,
the proportion of Latinos in the population of Franklin County grew:
·
283% in the
Greenfield CDP (Census Designated Place – the downtown area) (from 1.2% to
3.4%)
·
219% in Turners
Falls (part of the Town of Montague) (from 1.6% to 3.5%)
·
232% in the Athol
CDP (from .95% to 2.4%).
·
By the late 1990s,
the Gill-Montague School k-12 enrollment shows that the student body has almost
tripled for Latinos; and the combined percentage of Asian, African American and
Native American students have increased eightfold (Latinos 1.8%, African
Americans 1.5% and Native Americans 0.7% respectively. [2]
Table 2.0
Detailed Hispanic or Latino in 2000
|
|
Total population |
Hispanic or Latino
(of any race) |
Mexican
|
Puerto Rican |
Cuban |
Other Hispanic or
Latino |
Not Hispanic or Latino |
|
Franklin
County |
71,535 |
1,425 |
186 |
816 |
48 |
375 |
70,110 |
|
Greenfield town |
18,168 |
644 |
73 |
441 |