NEW GROWTH PATTERN IN VIRGINIA

	Regional population growth patterns in Virginia have changed
dramatically since the 1980s, according to a University of Virginia
demographer.

	Although overall growth is slower in the 1990s than in the
1980s, new population estimates for 1990-95 show that in contrast to
the 1980s there is no region of the state that is losing population,
said Julia H. Martin, director of demographic research at U.Va.'s
Cooper Center for Public Service.  And a new pattern of growth has
emerged that is sharply divided between north and south, she said. 

	Virginia's rapid population growth in the 1980s was marked
by a "golden crescent" of growth in the north and east and actual
losses throughout Southwest and Southside Virginia.  The Cooper
Center's official state estimates through 1995 show far fewer
localities losing population and none of the state's planning
districts losing population, Martin said.

	An east-west line separating faster-growth from
slower-growth portions of the state would include
Richmond-Chesterfield and the Charlottesville metro area and all to
the north in the faster growing area.  

	Virginia has added about 429,000 new residents since 1990,
for an overall growth rate of about 7 percent, according to 1995
population estimates from the Cooper Center.  If recent trends
continue, the state's population will have grown by almost 14
percent during the 1990s, a noticeably slower growth rate than the
15.8 percent of the 1980s, Martin said.

	Other noteworthy points about Virginia's population at
mid-decade:

	¥ The Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads planning
districts now contain well over half -- 58 percent -- of Virginia's
citizens.

	¥ Some 78 percent of the state's residents now live in
metropolitan areas.  The percentage has been steadily increasing in
recent years.

	¥ The Northern Virginia metro area has accounted for about
46 percent of Virginia's population growth in the 1990s.

	For additional information or interview Julia Martin may be
reached at (804) 982-5581.  Television reporters should contact our
TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.

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May 8, 1996