Morgan Hill added 1,162 residents in 2006 to become Santa Clara
County’s fastest-growing city, outpacing Campbell by a nose.
Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill added 1,162 residents in 2006 to become Santa Clara County’s fastest-growing city, outpacing Campbell by a nose.
“It is no surprise that Morgan Hill’s population is growing” so rapidly, said Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “It’s a great place to live, a city with a true sense of community and a prime location for technology workers with jobs both in Morgan Hill’s increasing tech sector, as well as points north in other Silicon Valley cities.”
The city’s population grew by 3.1 percent from January 2006 to January 2007, from 37,256 to 38,418, according to numbers released in May by the California Department of Finance, the agency charged with compiling demographic information for cities and counties.
According to city officials, developers built 232 new housing units and the city added 71 additional homes through land annexations.
To some, Morgan Hill’s continuing population growth underscores a need to provide citizens commuting north with options to their automobiles.
Morgan Hill City Councilman Greg Sellers, a board member on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said the most significant challenge will center on regional planners’ ability to get residents to jobs further north.
“There is simply not enough space to put all the lanes required to get people through Coyote Valley, and if Coyote Valley is built out as planned, that problem will become significantly worse,” Sellers said in an e-mail. “Caltrain service can increase, but significant increases will require electrification, which is very expensive. Electrification will allow trains to get up to speed and slow down more quickly, thus allowing more trains.”
Sellers added Morgan Hill is prepared for traffic growth within its city limits despite hurdles for future commuters.
As to health care, Ted Fox, CEO of Saint Louise Regional Hospital and a member of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, said Morgan Hill’s continued growth will be accommodated as the hospital recruits more physicians and adds new services.
“Our strategic planning and operational and capital budgeting is directed at meeting the health-care needs of our communities as they grow with new and enhanced services,” Fox said in an e-mail.
Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate said “change is a constant” in today’s world and Morgan Hill’s growth would affect the atmosphere of the once rural community.
“Morgan Hill residents have a strong desire to maintain the same ‘feel’ in our community that does go back to the ’70s, and I believe with their commitment and the policies we implement, we can accomplish that goal,” Tate said. “Certainly new neighborhoods and residents will bring increased diversity to Morgan Hill, which I believe we can use to positively impact our inclusionary atmosphere.”
Even with the county’s fastest growth rate in 2006, Morgan Hill remains one of the smaller cities around, only bigger than five of the county’s 14 cities and towns.
Campbell, the next biggest Santa Clara County city, has 39,748 people after growing by 3 percent in 2006.
San Jose continues to lurch toward one million residents with 973,672 as of Jan. 1, up from 957,618 the year before, according
