Recently, the idea of looking at Columbia, MD over a thirty years began to formulate in my head. There is no blockbuster movie that I can use to illustrate the changes that have (and have not) happened, but there is sufficient data to paint a picture.
Although it would be difficult to pin down the “best” year of Columbia’s early beginnings, 1980 was probably near the top. The city was moving away from the deep financial crisis of the mid 1970’s. The Village Centers were thriving. JK’s Pub in Wilde Lake had been open for only two years, but quickly became the “Cheers” of Columbia long before we found out about Sam Malone’s fictitious watering hole in Boston. Most of Wilde Lake, Harper’s Choice, Oakland Mills and Long Reach was built out. Development continued in Owen Brown, Kings Contrivance, and Hickory Ridge. The Columbia Association had 15 pools and one athletic club (although a lease to operate the Supreme Court, a racquetball club (with a full-service bar) was signed that year).
I don’t want to be too much “milk and honey” here. Nationally, the oil crisis, hostage crisis, and stagflation dominated the news. Hammond High School was the scene of cafeteria fights between students. It was not a perfect day in Pleasantville, but day-to-day, Columbia was a good place in 1980.
According to the US Census, Columbia’s population in 1980 was 52,518. Far short of James Rouse’s projection in 1967, but well underway. It is from this point that we begin our story. Based on US Census data, the population of Columbia has grown pretty steady over the last thirty years. Over this time period, the rate of population growth was greatest during the 1980’s. From 1990 - 2010, Columbia has seen an almost linear growth rate.
"A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together."
A never-married child under 18 years who is a son or daughter by birth, a step child, or an adopted child of the householder. In certain tabulations, own children are further classified as living with two parents or with one parent only.
The graph below shows how the Columbia married households have changed over the last thirty years.
This is not exclusive to Columbian married with kids households. A similar trend can be seen with single parent households.