For all that changed in the District in 2006, nothing was perhaps as significant — to outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams at least — than the increase in population acknowledged by the Census Bureau.
In July came word that the federal government had agreed to boost the city’s population by about 30,000 as of July 1, 2005, from 550,521 to 582,049.
It was the first population increase since the 1950 Census and justified the economic policies that Williams had installed over his eight previous years in office.
“This increase of more than 30,000 people will mean greater revenue from a number of federal programs, and it also represents an acknowledgment of what we have been saying all along — that the boom in residential development in the District represents a sizable increase in population,” Williams said in July. “This is an important endorsement of our policies in the area of housing and economic development.”
Cranes continued to fly high above Washington, despite a slowing real estate market that particularly hurt condominium owners. New developments took shape, or were announced, across the city including the city’s first Target in Columbia Heights and the transformation of Skyland Shopping Center in Ward 8, which will give the ward its only supermarket.
Mixed-use developments are slated for the Georgia Avenue corridor and Old Convention Center site in Northwest and the McMillan Reservoir in Northeast. The Southwest and Southeast waterfronts are also set for a multi-year makeover.
The economic backdrop for the District continued to look strong in 2006, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi said recently.
The city’s gross state product increased 5.9 percent in fiscal 2006 over 2005, from $80.91 billion to $85.7 billion. Personal income was up 5.4 percent to $32.32 billion, per capita income rose 4.6 percent to $55,131 and D.C. residents’ earning jumped 5.7 percent to $25.6 billion.
A greater population, and a campaign from the city’s Department of Public Works, also meant more plastic, cans, newspaper, cardboard and other recyclables to collect. Recyclables in 2006 totaled 29,200 tons of material, up from 28,000 tons the year before, Williams’ office announced recently. In 2004, before the District provided wheeled containers, recycling totaled only 21,000 tons.
Despite an ever-growing commuter population, one that does not pay income taxes to the District, the city failed to convince the courts to authorize a commuter tax.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case in 2006, upholding an earlier decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejecting the levy.
