NEW U.VA. COOPER CENTER PUBLICATION, "SPOTLIGHT ON VIRGINIA," SHOWS
VIRGINIA'S POPULATION GROWTH RATE SLOWING
ΚΚ BUT MANY AREAS STILL GROWING RAPIDLY

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 11 -- The University of Virginia's
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service introduces this month a free
new publication, "Spotlight on Virginia."
"Published every other month, 'Spotlight' will focus on the demography
and economy of Virginia, featuring both Cooper Center research and the
analysis of information produced by others," announced center director
John P. Thomas.  "We hope it will be a useful aid to understanding
some of the complex changes and new developments taking place in our
state.  It is aimed at anyone interested in Virginia." 
	The first issue of "Spotlight on Virginia" focuses on the
state's population and features the Cooper Center's official 1996
state estimates. 
	Julia H. Martin, the center's director of demographic and
workforce research, shows that although Virginia's population has
grown from nearly 6.2 million in 1990 to almost 6.7 million by last
year, the state's rate of growth has been slowing compared to the
previous decade. The slowdown in growth is partly a result of an aging
population and partly from a considerable decline in numbers moving
into the state, Martin says. 
	But, adds Martin, many suburban Virginia localities,
especially along the I-95 corridor linking the Richmond area and
Northern Virginia, are gaining large numbers of new residents.  And
among Virginia's eight metropolitan areas, she shows, the
Charlottesville area now ranks first in net migration rate and second
in overall population growth rate. 
	"Spotlight on Virginia," one of numerous regular publications
about Virginia from the Cooper Center, also will be available on the
center's Web page, along with additional information, if available, on
the featured topic, at www.virginia.edu/~cpserv/
	To get on the "Spotlight" mailing list contact the Cooper
Center at (804) 982-5541 or by fax at (804) 982-5524.
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March 10, 1997
	REPORTERS, EDITORS:  For additional information on this
month's "Spotlight" or Virginia population figures, Julia Martin may
be reached at (804) 982-5582.