Port St. Lucie named the third-fastest growing city in nation

By HILLARY COPSEY
Port St. Lucie is no longer America's fastest-growing city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but with the population reaching 150,000 and economic development just beginning, city officials say losing the top growth title doesn't matter.

Elk Grove, Calif., just south of Sacramento, nabbed the title of America's fastest-growing city by increasing its population by 11.6 percent between 2004 and 2005.

Port St. Lucie, with an 11 percent growth rate, fell to the third fastest-growing city in the country but remains the fastest-growing in Florida for cities of a population of more than 100,000.

"We're still maintaining our high growth rate," Mayor Bob Minsky said, and that rate likely will soar with such economic development successes as the relocation of Carling Technologies and the Burnham Institute discussions.

"It's going to take off like a helium balloon in a vacuum," Minsky said. "Once the ball starts rolling and you start getting things like Burnham and Carling, it's going to be like waving a red flag at all these people out there who are like, 'Where do we want to go?'"

Indeed, according to city estimates, Port St. Lucie's population will top 150,000 this month, city spokesman Ed Cunningham said. Census reports put the population at 131,692 last July.
Relatively cheap housing has driven Port St. Lucie's population boom. New residents such as Chuck McGowen, a Realtor from Boca Raton, moved to the city in January 2005 to get away from high housing costs in South Florida.

By buying a four-bedroom, 2,600-square-foot home in Port St. Lucie instead of Boca Raton, McGowen said he saved roughly $100,000.

But McGowen works from home and commutes. Residents and city officials all say the city must create more jobs and amenities if it wants to maintain growth.

Being America's fastest-growing city helped put Port St. Lucie on the national business radar, city officials said. California-based biomedical researcher, The Burnham Institute, is considering the city for a satellite campus, and Connecticut electronics firm, Carling Technologies, is relocating here.

But remaining America's fastest-growing city wasn't really important, officials say.
"We don't need to be No. 1," Councilwoman Michelle Berger said. "There's enough pressure on the city itself ... to grow economic development. That's what we're looking for now: to maintain balance as we grow."

PORT ST. LUCIE POPULATION
The city's population hit 100,000 in 2003, when it ranked sixth on the U.S. Census Bureau's annual list of America's fastest-growing cities. Since then, the population boom has continued.
July 2004: 118,655
July 2005: 131,692
June 2006: 150,000*