Time is Now to Plan for NOVA's Boom

UVA's Weldon-Cooper Center recently came out with it's new population projection for 2040 (which isn't that far away!). 

The top lines from the newspapers project Virginia passing New Jersey and Michigan in population, but the local numbers are more interesting.

NOVA counties are going to see some major increases.  I have listed the counties in the 36th District here in blue.  Here's some comparisons:

Jurisdiction	2015 Population	2040 Projected Population	Total Increase	Percentage Increase	Total Delegates	Total Senators
Fairfax County	1,129,330	1,347,487	218,157	19.3%	13.2	5.2
Prince William County	443,463	682,111	238,648	53.8%	6.7	2.7
Stafford County	134,251	208,845	74,594	55.5%	2.0	0.8
Loudoun County	374,451	684,911	310,460	82.9%	6.7	2.7
Arlington County	234,678	313,352	78,674	33.5%	3.1	1.2
City of Alexandria	159,571	215,119	55,548	34.8%	2.1	0.8
City of Fairfax	23,193	25,286	2,093	9.0%	0.2	0.1
City of Falls Church	14,183	20,577	6,394	45.0%	0.2	0.1
Fauquier County	67,898	84,873	16,975	25.0%	0.8	0.3
TOTAL	2,581,018	3,582,561	1,001,583	38.8%	35.0	13.9

Population will continue to shift to Northern Virginia - 35% of Virginia's population will be in Northern Virginia compared with 29.6% in 2010.

Redevelopment and Planning
These numbers only reinforce the need to continue moving along the U.S. 1 Embark process.  Population is coming to Northern Virginia and we need to plan for it now as different jurisdictions continue to compete for these new families. 

Building up instead of building out is a better way to go in terms of infrastructure, energy consumption, and quality of life.  Leaders in the U.S. 1 Corridor in Fairfax and Prince William Counties should see this as major redevelopment opportunity to improve our communities.

It also only underscores the pressure that Northern Virginia's existing government infrastructure will feel as numbers continue to grow.  We will need new transit, schools, and parks as we plan for this influx of people.  

Planning for these kinds of populations shifts takes decades which is why we need to lay the groundwork today.

Politics
There are also political consequences in these population increases.  Although I did not use the 2010 numbers, if you use the 2010 population used to conduct the last redistricting, this would mean a net pickup of  5.1 Delegates and 2 Senators for Northern Virginia. 

Although, it is a little harder to calculate because of the activity in other states, it is also pretty apparent that Virginia will likely pickup 1-2 Congressional seats and at least one of them will be in Northern Virginia. 

I did not do all of the math, but it is fairly apparent that nearly 70% of the state's population will be in the I-95/I-64, NOVA-Richmond-Hampton Roads Corridor.  Our regions need to continue to work together to look for common ground as we cope with these challenges.