New housing spurred Maine’s largest population bump in this Portland suburb

That improve is probably going because of the variety of multi-family housing that builders have labored with the city to construct in Scarborough in recent times, in addition to the Scarborough Downs mixed-use growth venture, mentioned Thomas Corridor, the city supervisor since 2008.

He suspects that the majority of that development occurred throughout the second half of the 2010s, when the overwhelming majority of that new housing turned accessible.

“The multi-family part, in contrast to single-family houses, is constructed a lot faster and might definitely carry extra individuals in a shorter time period,” Corridor mentioned.

That features a whole lot of recent items on the Scarborough Downs web site, in addition to at The Beacon at Gateway, which was inbuilt 2018 and options 288 items. These items are high-end, with the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce describing them as “luxurious.”

There have additionally been a number of new reasonably priced housing tasks, particularly targeted on native seniors, he mentioned.

Corridor, who mentioned he knew Scarborough was rising however was unfamiliar with the Census statistic, mentioned that the city seemingly has land-use rules that enable for denser housing than different communities. He additionally attributed the expansion to the city’s proximity to Portland and its college division, typically lauded as having among the finest faculties in Maine, together with by U.S. Information and World Report.

However as Corridor factors out, Scarborough has grown for many years. Every U.S. Census has proven it gaining inhabitants since 1930, when the inhabitants was round 2,400 to Portland’s 71,000.

Its variety of residents has elevated practically 10-fold since then, narrowing the hole with its bigger neighbor. Scarborough is extra prosperous than the remainder of Cumberland County, with median family revenue surpassing $100,000 as of 2020 American Neighborhood Survey knowledge.

Although the city has promoted multi-family housing, many are additionally shifting into single-family houses. The median worth of the 30 houses recorded as bought in Scarborough by Redfin within the final month had a median worth of $607,500, far above that of the remainder of Maine.

Late final month, a three-bedroom house on Inspiration Drive within the prestigious Japanese Village neighborhood bought for over $1 million. The colonial type house featured three full loos, a pool and a pool home that the lister marketed as being the one one within the neighborhood.

In 2020, 1 in 10 had moved into a brand new house in Scarborough within the final 12 months, in keeping with American Neighborhood Survey numbers. Most have been from elsewhere in Cumberland County, whereas 3 p.c have been from one other state and a pair of p.c elsewhere in Maine.

Although Scarborough noticed the best improve by whole variety of individuals in Maine, by share change, it was not the best inhabitants improve within the state for a neighborhood of over 500 individuals. That distinction belonged to Ogunquit.

Corridor sees the inhabitants development as half of a bigger plan for creating Scarborough within the years to come back. Because the neighborhood focuses on bringing in new jobs, he hopes that it’s going to herald much more individuals who will ultimately make it their house.

“We’ve had pretty brisk … business non-residential growth as effectively,” Corridor mentioned. “And so, it’s all associated.”

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