Housing rose in New York by 5 percent from 2010 to 2020, but shrunk in one-third of its counties.
U.S. census data released last month shows the declines were concentrated in rural areas, with Allegheny County losing the most at almost 10.3 percent of its inventory, according to the Times Union.
The Allegheny town of Granger, for example, lost 37 percent of its housing. The town started the decade with 411 units and finished with just 260 — one for every two people.
The second-biggest decrease came in Hamilton County, which lost just under 10 percent of its housing. Schoharie Country was third, losing 4.5 percent, or 782 housing units.
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The reasons vary from county to county, but many officials cited a lack of economic opportunities in rural areas of the state, the Times Union reported. Natural disasters and potential counting issues with the census might also have contributed.
New York City and Saratoga Springs helped make up for the losses, though the former doesn’t rank in the top two counties for percentage growth. Tompkins County, which includes Ithaca, led the charge with a 12.5 percent increase in housing and Saratoga Springs was second at 11.4 percent.
Overall, around 15,600 housing units were lost in the 21 counties that saw a decline since the last census. It’s a stark contrast from the previous decade, when only one of the state’s 62 counties — Lewis — saw a decline in housing units.
[Times Union] — Holden Walter-Warner