Although the last few years may have seen an increase in newcomer families with children remaining in Hoboken, census figures show that there were 27.5 percent less children under the age of 18 in the city in 2000 than there were in 1990.
The city’s total population as reported by the 2000 census is a total of 38,577. In the decade of the 1990s, the overall population of the city increased by 15 percent (see sidebar). But while overall population increased, the number of children declined. In 1990, there were 5,582 people under the age of 18 in the city, but in 2000 there were only 4,034.
“Families are having fewer and fewer children,” said Board of Education President David Anthony last week.
But Anthony noted that enrollment is up in the public schools. Until recently, the school population had been declining rapidly.
“For the first time in 17 years, enrollment is up in public schools,” said Anthony. “Last year we saw an increase of 1.5 percent in enrollment. In the early 1990s, the schools were losing almost 4 percent in yearly enrollments.”
Anthony believes that the reason for this increase in enrollment is due to the public schools’ new programs. In the last two years, the Hoboken public schools have started programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, bringing more of those children into the system. Additionally, the system now boasts two charter schools.
Anthony also believes that the school system started improving in the mid-1990s, but that only now are those improvements being felt.
Possible explanations
A few residents had theories about the numbers.
Joe Attia, who has one child and has lived in Hoboken for two years, said, “Well, Hoboken is an expensive place to raise kids. But there are more and more young kids you see around town, lots of kids in strollers.”
Attia then took a minute and studied the 27 percent decrease in minors and compared them in relation to the increase in school enrollment. “These numbers really don’t say too much about what is happening in 2000,” said Attia. “These say what was happening back in the early 1990s. I would guess that the decrease is because people left in the past. But the new increase in enrollment means there are more young kids getting into the system.”
Taking on the other side of the fence was Juan Marino, who is single without children. He did not see anything positive from the numbers. “A working family can’t afford to have more than two kids here,” said Marino. “You just can’t do it. I’m not surprised families move out.”
Mayor Anthony Russo took an optimistic approach and hypothesized that 10 years from now, there will be more families in Hoboken than there are today. “We’ve taken the incentive to make Hoboken a destination,” said Russo Wednesday. “You look up and down the streets there are so many young kids. People are having more in the ways of savings, and that means that people are going to be staying here with their families. The key is keeping the families with young kids in town. If we are able to do that, then years from now the schools have no where to go but up in the future.”
City releases growth analysis
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Human Services director Robert Drasheff presented a report about the growth rate in Hoboken in the 1990s.
According to the report, 3,480 new housing units were built in the city since the 1990 census.
However, the report adds that there were 837 units that were built in the late 1980s that were not counted in the 1990 census; therefore Drasheff adjusted the total number of new housing units in Hoboken between 1990 and 2000 to 2,643.
“This computes to a 10-year increase in population of 11.37 percent, which is an annual average growth rate of 1.14 percent,” the report said. “Compare our 10-year growth rate of 11.37 percent with the rates of some of the neighboring towns; Guttenberg: 30 percent, Kearney: 16.2 percent, North Bergen: 20 percent, Secaucus: 13.3 percent, Union City: 15.6 percent and West New York, with 20 percent.”
Drasheff also noted that comparing census statistics from 1980 through 2000, Hoboken had a decline in population from 42,460 in 1980 to the current figure of 38,5777. This is a 20-year decline of 9.14 percent.