KEARNEY, Neb. - Kearney officially has 30,000 people.
According to figures released Tuesday, Kearney's population reached 30,787, a 12.2-percent growth since the 2000 census.
City leaders, past and present, say the growth has been healthy and not too fast.
"It's a milestone," Jim Ganz Jr., Kearney City Planning Commission chair, said. "I think it's been a goal of the city to increase, reasonably, and we're increasing where a lot of towns aren't."
Ganz said in light of the national economic situation, Kearney's growth is a good sign.
"I think it's a sign of being thriving. In fact, a lot of communities are not thriving," he said.
Ganz said he doesn't foresee any unusual problems because of the growth.
"As we grow, we'll have the normal infrastructure demands that will be there, and so I don't think there's anything extraordinary that would cause strain on the community."
Mayor Stan Clouse said city growth is a product of Kearneyites working together for the greater good.
"I attribute it to a lot of people making Kearney a place where people like to live and raise their families," Clouse said. "I think this is a testimony to our economic development. We have jobs, we have a good quality of life."
He said the people who have chosen Kearney as their homes also are signaling leaders to keep working to meet the demands of a growing community.
"We're on the right path, but we can't let up," he said. "We've got to keep moving forward."
Clouse said, in today's economy, any growth is positive.
"When we look around the state, in some of the communities that are going the other way, I'd much rather have growth problems than declining population problems."
Clouse was elected mayor in December 2006.
Pete Kotsiopulos, vice president for University of Nebraska at Kearney development at the University of Nebraska Foundation, was Kearney's mayor when the 2000 Census determined the city had 27,431 residents.
Kotsiopulos said the city has experienced healthy growth and hasn't been overwhelmed by a drastic jump in population.
He said reaching the 30,000 mark has been on city officials' minds for quite a while.
"It's always been part of the discussion," Kotsiopulos said. "You want steady, planned growth. Big spikes that you can't handle, infrastructure wise, usually are not healthy. Kearney has always, over the years, had a deliberate choice of how it chooses to grow."
An economic leader says there are indications why Kearney will continue to grow.
Darren Robinson, president of the Economic Development Council of Buffalo County, credits several positive economic attributes that attract people to live in Kearney.
Robinson noted that Kearney has the lowest unemployment rate in the Nebraska and is designated the second-least-stressed county in the U.S. by the Associated Press Economic Stress Index.
He said there is a collective effort by people in the community to draw people in.
"It's clear that we share the common goal of making Kearney a great place to call home," Robinson said. "Based on countless community and business interviews, smart growth that enhances our quality of life kind of sums up what I see as the past, present and future mission of our community."
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