IS IT TRUE?? Is Farmington the Fastest
Shrinking City in the Nation?!
From time to time the City of Farmington deals with the aftermath of articles
like the one recently published by USA Today, naming Farmington, NM as
the “fastest-shrinking city in the nation.”
This article is based on
Farmington as a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), not Farmington as
an incorporated city. Farmington is a subset of the overall MSA - - Aztec,
Kirtland, Bloomfield, Shiprock, unincorporated areas of San Juan County,
and parts of the Navajo Nation are also part of the “Farmington MSA.” The
MSA is named after Farmington because it has the largest population of
the MSA territory. While articles like the USA Today make it difficult to
explain the statistical comparison, there are a variety of positive economic
benefits that are derived from being designated as only 1 of 4 Metropolitan
Statistical Areas in the entire state of New Mexico. The other 3 are Santa
Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces.
While hearing that we are the fastest shrinking city in the nation is certainly
unnerving, it’s not completely true either! It’s undeniable that our
community is suffering from the effects of the down turn in the oil and gas
industry, but that is not the only sector that contributes to the economy in
Farmington. The fact is Farmington’s population only decreased by 3.1%
between 2000 and 2014. Over the past year we’ve had businesses like
Tomo’s Japanese Sushi and Steak House, Dicks Sporting Goods,
Freddie’s, Del Taco, etc. open in our community. Other businesses that
are under construction or under plan review include: US Eagle Credit
Union, Beckland Dental, Chick-Fil-A, Five Guys, Carls Jr., and a local
favorite, Spud Nuts. While our community still relies on the oil and gas
industry, our economic base has expanded over the years, and other
sectors (like retail, professional services, and construction) are providing
strong economic support in our community. Economic expansion and
retraction is expected and is cyclical and we should all keep this
temporary challenge in reasonable historic perspective.
While it’s not always easy to tell when an article refers to the ”City of
Farmington” or the “Farmington Metropolitan Statistical Area,” one good
way to determine is by the population the author lists. For example, the
USA Today article lists the population of Farmington as 118,737. The City
of Farmington’s most current population is listed as 45,877, so a reader
would be able to identify this article as one using Metropolitan Statistical
Area data .
Moving forward the best reaction to the article and the most proactive
approach to economic security our citizens can take is to support local
businesses and those who are investing in our future! This has the most
immediate and positive impact for our city. Shop locally… eat
locally…invest in the future of our community!