Douglas County Comprehensive Plan Update

This is a good opportunity to pause and reflect on population projections.  That is an incredibly important input into the Comprehensive Plan Update.  At our second Steering Committee Meeting on October 13, our consultant team introduced some basic data that will be used as a part of the plan. You can take a look at the presentation here (and remember, you can find summaries of all of the meeting materials and stakeholder feedback on the main page of the project website as it becomes available.)

According to Census, the 2020 population for Douglas County was 144,237 individuals.  Between 2000 and 2020, we added about 50,000 people.  The 1986 Plan for Douglas County projected that we would have about 150,000 people by 2010, and the 2004 Plan for Douglas County predicted that we would have 200,054 people by 2020.  According to population estimates provided by the Atlanta Regional Commission, we anticipate that we will be approaching 190,000 people by 2050.  

1986 Douglas County Comprehensive Plan Population Estimates

2004 Douglas County Comprehensive Plan Population Estimates

Another interesting benchmark is to consider the rate of growth in other communities.  The 2004 projection missed the mark, and overshot our population projection by a number we don’t even anticipate in the next 30 years.   The Census aggregates data by county, and a table of total population figures for each decade between 1900 and 2000 can be found here. Based on this data, it can be extrapolated when some of our neighbors were about the size of Douglas County today:

• Clayton County was at 150,000 people around 1980*
• Cobb County passed the 150,000 mark between 1960 and 1970*
• DeKalb County passed the 150,000 mark between 1950 and 1960*
• Fulton County passed the 150,000 mark between 1900 and 1910*
• Gwinnett County passed the 150,000 mark between 1970 and 1980*

The decisions that we make for land use planning, housing development, infrastructure expansion and greenspace conservation all play a significant role in how fast Douglas County will grow.

*Source: 1900-2000 County Census Population (Georgia) accessed from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget