Will Baldwin grow again? Not just yet

This isn't too surprising, but the state demography center this week put out its annual population estimates for cities and townships. Fast growth has not returned to Baldwin Township, but the population hasn't headed south or back to the Twin Cities either.

We've raised the question a couple times (most recently here) whether Baldwin Township will ever see its rapid growth return. Like exurban communities almost everywhere around the Twin Cities, housing has screeched to a halt and foreclosures are frequent.

But the demographer says Baldwin grew by 81 people -- for a total of 6,656 -- between July 2008 and July 2009. That's actually a little bit greater than the previous few years but nowhere near the pace of the 1990s. The township added more than 400 between 2000 and 2001.

It's still the state's third largest township, behind White Bear in Ramsey County and Big Lake, also in Sherburne County. The next largest behind Baldwin is neighbor Livonia.

You can find all the estimates here.

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