March 23, 1997
A Major Shift
In PopulationFOR SEVERAL YEARS, people have been commenting that there seemed to be more children in the neighborhood, more young families moving into the big old houses that for so long had been the domaine of older people whose own children had long since fled the nest.
Of course, comments by a few people don't necessarily mean that something is true. So, just for the heck of it, we recently compared the census numbers for 1980 and 1990 for tracts 236 and 237, the only tracts that are entirely within the North Shore area. Together they cover the area from 5th Avenue N to 22nd Avenue N, from Tampa Bay to 4th Street N. Okay, this isn't the entire neighborhood, but it is the biggest chunk of it.
The numbers show that the total population of the neighborhood hardly changed, but that there was a major shift in the age makeup of the neighborhood. The number of people aged 35 to 44 more than doubled, and the number of infants aged five or under almost doubled. Meanwhile, there were significant decreases in the number of teenagers and the number of people 55 and older.
Here are the numbers:
| Age Group | 1980 | 1990 | Difference | Percent Change |
| Under 5 | 177 | 327 | +150 | +84.75% |
| 5 to 9 | 209 | 213 | +4 | +1.91% |
| 10 to 14 | 236 | 175 | -61 | -25.85% |
| 15 to 19 | 293 | 228 | -65 | -22.18% |
| 20 to 24 | 394 | 309 | -85 | -21.57% |
| 25 to 34 | 776 | 1119 | +343 | +44.20% |
| 35 to 44 | 476 | 1054 | +578 | +121.43% |
| 45 to 54 | 529 | 597 | 68 | +12.85% |
| 55 to 64 | 700 | 519 | -181 | -25.86% |
| 65 to 74 | 1041 | 705 | -336 | -32.28% |
| 75 + | 1613 | 1214 | -399 | -24.74% |
| Total | 6444 | 6460 | 16 | +.25% |