Marion diversity up, population down
Though diversity in Marion is on the rise, the overall population of the county has declined over the last 10 years, according to data from the 2020 Census released last week.
Per the data, Marion County has seen its population drop from 66,501 in 2010 to 65,359 in 2020. While southern townships like Waldo and Prospect did experience a slight increase in population, the decrease of population in areas like Big Island, Morral, Larue and Green Camp hindered overall population gain.
In these townships west of Marion, the area comprising Larue, New Bloomington and Green Camp experienced an 8.5% drop in population. Per Census data, the area between N. Prospect Street and Harding Highway West saw a 13.6% drop in population. Others include the area near Lincoln Park and N. Main Street experiencing an 8.5% dip, and downtown Marion dropping by 8.6% in population.
Marion Mayor Scott Schertzer said the drop in population for downtown Marion could be because of the city's and county's aggressive efforts to remove vacant homes. Though there are less residential homes in the area now, he said apartments like the Harding Centre is near 90% capacity.
Schertzer said the last 50 years of Census data will show Marion consistently fluctuates between gaining and losing roughly 100 or so people each decade. He added if these dips in population would be more significant, he would be more alarmed, but nonetheless, he still believes there's collective work to be done.
This work, he said, will require officials from both the city and the county as well as non-elected leaders. This includes increasing housing options in Marion as Schertzer said many of the homes in Marion were built before World War II.
"There aren't a lot of people clamoring to live in a pre-world War II house," Schertzer said.
Other focuses for the future include the continued revitalization of downtown Marion and finding ways to retain young adults who come to Marion for furthered education. With the Ohio State University Marion branch offering four year degrees and trade schools like Tri-rivers offering a way into the workforce, Schertzer hopes these offerings will attract more people.
Schertzer said there are silver linings to Marion's current population size. With an increased population, he said issues such as roads, sidewalks and sewer lines could become more severe as the city is actively trying to address these issues under the current population size.
In 2010, most of Marion's population is made up of white people with 60,565, or 91.1% of the population. Now, that number has dropped down to 56,754, or a decrease of 6.3%.
Conversely, the Census data is showing Marion is becoming more diverse in nearly all other demographics. This includes a 7.9% increase in Black population in Marion as well as a 174.1% increase of the population with two or more races. Other large increases include American Indian population seeing a 70.8% increase and 'other' seeing a 60.3% increase.
Marion also saw a rose in ethnicity for the county. Hispanic or Latinx communities saw an uptick of 30.1% over the last decade with the population now at 1,956.
For Johnnie Jackson, diversity and equity supervisor for Marion City Schools, these statistics come as no surprise. With national experts predicting minority races to become the majority over the coming decades, he sees what is happening in Marion as the tip of the iceberg in a transitional time.
Jackson said the increase in multiracial and multi-cultural families is a sign of a changing mindset both socially and politically. He cited anti-interracial marriage laws that were in place for many decades throughout the 40s and late into the 60s where it prohibited interracial marriages and relationships.
With these laws being overturned in 1967, Jackson said they have had a lingering effect on interracial marriages until more recently.
"I think the Census data reminds us that America is much more a multi-racial and multi-cultural nation than what we often talk about," Jackson said. "And for me, it's an exciting thing to have conversations about."
This is also a crucial time for Marion and its socially-active organizations, Jackson said. As more groups like the Marion Black Heritage Council, Marion Voices: Folklife + Oral History Program and Marion City Schools push for more diversity and inclusion, this Census data helps guide what programs will be focused on, and what new ones will be created to better fit the needs of a diverse community.
While Jackson is eager to dig through this data, he also cautioned about painting broad strokes about diversity. Though Marion has seen an uptick in its Black community, Jackson said it's important to note that there are a plethora of different cultures within Black communities. For some, it's Black traditions hailing from Jamaica or Haiti, and for others, it could be a mix of Latinx heritage with Black traditions as more interracial families grow.
Gus Comstock, director of Marion Cando!, said Marion is quickly approaching a boom or bust point in the coming years.
With Columbus and Delaware both continuing to expand north, Comstock sees Marion in a prime position. With the county being a relatively short drive to Columbus and high housing prices in Delaware, Comstock said it's only a matter of time before Marion sees a large increase in people flocking to the county. The question now is: is Marion ready?
That question is what Comstock has been working on since starting Cando! in Marion. And with areas like Waldo seeing a slight uptick in population size, he believes now is the time to jump into action and prepare with more housing options and more competitive wages from employers.
When looking into the Census data, it shows Marion actually dropped in total housing units within the last decade. However, this drop could be due to vacant homes being removed as vacant homes in Marion significantly dropped by 23.1% and occupied homes increased by 1%. Now in 2020, Marion has 27,348 housing units available and Comstock predicts this number to skyrocket.
Comstock said developers have been coming into Marion and purchasing plots of land with intentions of selling them back to buyers. While this is a step towards increasing housing options in Marion, he said it's crucial Marion officials lead the charge on development rather than developers.
Comstock said employers have to be more competitive and creative with employees especially after the pandemic.
"If you say you're going to pay someone $10 an hour, don't plan people driving more than 10 miles," Comstock said. "But if you say we are going to pay $20 an hour, now we're out about 30 miles and here's a pool of people you can draw from."
One company currently doing this in Marion is Whirlpool, Comstock said. During the pandemic, Whirlpool increased its wages for employees to about $20 an hour. Additionally, it implemented a more flexible schedule where employees can leave the shift schedule behind in favor of a 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. workday.
This shortened work day has been a major success for Whirlpool, Comstock noted. He said working families love being able to get their kids ready for the school day in the morning, head off to work and be home in time to get the kids off the bus for the evening.
Comstock said this is because of a shift in the mind of employees. He said employees just aren't interested in a 40hour work week that pays $10 an hour; rather they value their time more than a full work week.
Story by Mitch Hooper | (740)-2449935 | bhooper@gannett.com | @_MH16 on Twitter