Terre Haute is growing, thanks in part to a group of people who just can’t say goodbye to this place.
Literally.
This month, the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2008 population estimates for American cities, and Terre Haute weighed in at a seemingly robust 60,007. The city hasn’t officially topped 60,000 since 1980.
I know, I know — what about all the plant closings and job losses of recent years? And what about those bleak Census statistics from a few years ago, when Vigo County had the state’s largest population drop in the first half of this decade?
Those all were real. But so was the opening of a third prison at the Federal Correctional Complex on the city’s southwest side in the spring of 2005. That addition of a new, maximum-security facility arrived just months after the Census Bureau estimated Terre Haute’s population had dwindled to 57,663 in 2004. Since then, the city’s headcount — which includes inmates incarcerated here, according to centuries-old U.S. Census rules — gradually has climbed.
The population rise following the prison’s debut isn’t a coincidence. Yet it also doesn’t fully account for the statistical growth.
From 2004 to 2008, the number of people living in Terre Haute has risen by 2,344. Meanwhile, the total inmate population at the Federal Correctional Complex’s three-prison site has increased by 1,754 since its third facility opened four years ago. Of those 1,754 new, confined city residents, 1,645 are housed in that third prison. (The older, medium-security prison has 1,334 inmates, while 456 are held in the minimum-security camp.)
Even so, the city population has added another 590 residents, who aren’t behind bars, since 2004.
Without speculating on causes for Terre Haute’s boost, Matt Kinghorn of the Indiana Business Research Center called the overall growth “pretty impressive.” A prison expansion could distort that increase, he cautioned.
But the bottom-line number may be all that matters.
“That tells people something, without even looking at the details,” said Duke Bennett, Terre Haute’s mayor.
It’s like Rod Carew’s lifetime batting average. The former Twins and Angels Hall of Famer finished with a dazzling .328 career average. Lots of Carew’s 3,053 base hits included bunts and infield grounders on which he used his foot speed to beat the opponents’ throws to first base. In 1972, he led the American League with a .318 average without hitting a single home run.
Is Carew’s .328 lifetime mark any less legitimate than the .334 career average of current Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, who’s homered 351 times? No. Carew and Pujols used different assets to do the same thing — get on base, and get runs for their teams.
Likewise, if prisoners count as residents of the communities where they’re serving time, then Terre Haute is a legitimate 60,000-population town. The inmates’ presence directly affects daily life here, and the local economy. The salaries, benefits and operating costs of facilities, such as the maximum-security prison that opened in 2005, total more than $30 million annually, according to Bureau of Prisons figures quoted at its unveiling.
Some advocacy groups want the Census to abandon its practice of counting inmates where they’re locked up, as the U.S. Census enumerators have done since 1790. Critics contend that prisoners should be counted as residents of their most recent, non-institutional address. Otherwise, they say, Census figures paint a distorted demographic picture of small, prison towns, and shortchange urban areas (where a majority of inmates once lived) in the allocation of federal funds and congressional representation.
Maybe so. Nonetheless, the rule that’s stood for nearly 220 years still will be the rule when the next official decennial Census is conducted in 2010, the Bureau says.
Besides, Terre Haute seems to have grown, ever so modestly, around its latest prison addition. Those extra 590 residents matter to the local school district, businesses, churches and organizations.
There are 12 Indiana cities with populations of 60,000 or more, now that Terre Haute has rejoined that group. Half of those cities lost residents from 2007 to 2008; Terre Haute grew by 201 people in that span, which was three years after the new prison opened.
“That’s a tremendous harbinger, I’d say,” said Andrew Conner of Downtown Terre Haute Inc.
“To see the numbers go up, that’s a really positive thing,” Mayor Bennett said. “Next year’s Census is the one that counts the most, though.”
Indeed, next April’s enumeration is the official Census that determines how much federal money cities should get, and where congressional districts are drawn. Some unpredictable variables could knock Terre Haute back under 60,000. The percentage of Hauteans responding to the 2000 Census questionnaires was among the state’s worst, and another poor showing could leave the city undercounted again. Also, since that 2008 Census estimate, the southside Pfizer plant and its 800 jobs have disappeared. A number of former Pfizer employees left town, and that could hurt.
On the plus side, Terre Haute can count on its 3,435 federal inmates being counted. Given the existing Census methods, their inclusion in the statistical snapshot of this community is a reality, not a distortion. This town lives with the risks and benefits that come with the prisons, and if their numbers give Terre Haute extra clout and resources, good for us.
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
Mark Bennett Opinion
Mark Bennett: Multiple factors lead to Terre Haute posting ‘pretty impressive’ population growth
- Mark Bennett Opinion
-
-
MARK BENNETT: Toxic victories
When the Super Bowl ends tonight in Indianapolis, most of the Giants and Patriots will shake hands, despite their competitive fire, win or lose.
-
MARK BENNETT: Indianapolis will be on display for the nation with the Super Bowl coming to town
Someone immersed in a crash diet to make a smashing impression at a class reunion may get the desired effect.
-
MARK BENNETT: Patiently waiting for Indiana's primary
While standing in a check-in line at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome a few years ago, I watched an Italian woman walk past dozens of more patient travelers to grab a spot up front.
-
MARK BENNETT: Processing postal change
You probably know one of those 10,026.
-
MARK BENNETT: Multiple choice question: Voters must choose which direction they want the future of education to go
There was a time when few Hoosiers outside of education circles could name the state superintendent of public instruction.
-
MARK BENNETT: With an historic election behind Terre Haute, it’s time to look at the future’s possibilities
Everybody knows their “woulda, coulda, shoulda” moments.
-
MARK BENNETT: Economic forecast: Things looking up but don’t expect ‘much of a dent in unemployment’
Outside the Columbia Club, the atmosphere matched the picture of 2012 painted by a panel of economists for an audience of business people gathered inside that ritzy building on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
-
MARK BENNETT: Students who reach for a college education too often are buried under a pile of debt
Right now, millions of college graduates are wondering whether their education was worth the effort.
That doubt hurts the country. -
MARK BENNETT: Tangier’s festival volunteers keep past alive for future
Traditions stay alive only as long as the people who hold them dear.
Small towns have that same life expectancy. -
MARK BENNETT: Made in the USA? A political T-shirt faux pas
The most rational statement about a small furor in the U.S. Senate campaign was uttered by a tea party organizer.
-
MARK BENNETT: Daniels goes where a candidate probably won’t in new book
Some things simply won’t get said on the political campaign trail.
-
MARK BENNETT: Time waits for no Manning
Sad, disappointed and uncertain. Colts fans feel all of those.
-
MARK BENNETT: Value of every minute deeply realized on 9/11 (related VIDEO)
Editor’s Note
This summer, the Tribune-Star’s Mark Bennett visited New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., sites where the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are now memorialized. He observed the cityscapes and landscapes forever changed by the events of that day and talked with people he encountered there, many of whom witnessed the attacks and their aftermath from close range and had personal ties to its victims. -
MARK BENNETT: As school begins, carve out daily time
By now, most back-to-school checklists are tattered and creased.
-
MARK BENNETT: Movie scene shows Terre Haute accepting Debs' role in its history
You stay classy, Terre Haute.
-
MARK BENNETT: Community outpouring represents collective sympathy for fallen officer
Every Terre Haute resident has probably been asked the same question.
“Why do you live there?” -
MARK BENNETT: Declaration of cursive’s death reminiscent of ’70s metric-conversion mania
When the state of Indiana announced it would no longer require schools to teach cursive handwriting, I was LOL.
-
MARK BENNETT: On Fourth of July, remember, too, those we depend on
A spatula in one hand, a cool beverage in the other, and a stash of bottle rockets in a plastic sack in the garage.
-
MARK BENNETT: Get out and see what the Valley has to offer
Maybe you drive the same route to work every day. Shortest route. Saves time and a few dimes worth of gas.
-
MARK BENNETT: Walking the fine bipartisan line
Lugar’s occasional departures from hard-line conservatism have put his six-term Senate position in jeopardy.
-
MARK BENNETT: Terre Haute man receives kidney from younger brother
The act of giving often triggers an instant calculation of loss.
-
MARK BENNETT: Tornadoes stand as catastrophic mileposts in history
Aforce stronger than mankind rivets the attention of humans. Fear. Awe. Curiosity.
-
MARK BENNETT: A degree can open doors but in this day and age, is it enough?
This month, hundreds of brand-new graduates of the local colleges are staring at that piece of paper and wondering, “Was it all worth it?”
-
MARK BENNETT: Appeasing hard-liners in presidential race could erode Daniels’ budget-minded appeal
Some Hoosiers who voted Mitch Daniels into the Indiana governor’s seat in 2004 may not recognize Mitch Daniels, candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, if he chooses to run.
-
MARK BENNETT: From Mother to Child
My mom remains a sweet, generous, energetic, faithful lady at 87 years old. Raising five children somehow didn’t break her bright spirit or my late father’s endless patience.
-
MARK BENNETT: Hoosier college grads may want to consider teaching jobs elsewhere
Commencement ceremonies at Indiana State University and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College are just six days away.
-
Mark Bennett: Consumers stuck when it comes to dealing with increasing gas prices
Most motorists pulling up to the gas pumps lately can relate to Frank Costanza.
As George Costanza’s volatile father on “Seinfeld,” Frank was told to say, “Serenity now,” whenever he felt his blood pressure rise. Instead, Frank screamed the phrase, defeating the purpose and illustrating his perpetual state of agitation. -
MARK BENNETT: Vigo County struggles with persistent child poverty
The statistics are hard to accept, especially for a community proud of its progress.
The situation those numbers expose is difficult to change. -
MARK BENNETT: Long live ... us
In never-say-die America, life expectancy is longer than ever, according to a report issued this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-
MARK BENNETT: Commission calls for academic success to be tied to NCAA Tournament participation
Follow the money.
That advice from Watergate informant “Deep Throat” led Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to the truth that uncovered corruption in the nation’s public office. The concept applies to situations beyond the Oval Office, though. - More Mark Bennett Opinion Headlines
-
MARK BENNETT: Toxic victories
Video of M.I.A's Obscene Halftime Gesture
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Woman Pleads Guilty in 1987 Newborn Kidnap Case
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
Skaters Still Hold Hope for Dutch Marathon
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Absolute Lin-sanity
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Kobe was 'rooting for Patriots' in Super Bowl
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Wookie Sensation
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Sandusky makes a statement
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
Halle Wants to Leave the Country
Northern Lights shine above earth
Plane makes perfect belly landing
Kris Jenner New Face of Arousal Oils
