Slow motion

Except for pockets of growth, most of the older cities in Essex County are seeing their populations decline

After arthritis made it too hard to take care of her family home in Lynn, Pat King hit the road to Brooksby Village, a retirement community in Peabody.

"I needed to feel safe and secure," said King, 65, a retired airline reservations agent. "I had lived in the home for 58 years. I kept it after my parents passed away 20 years ago. But it just got too much. . . . I couldn't wait to move."

King is also one of nearly 2,000 people who left Lynn between April 2000 and July 1, 2007, according to new population estimates from the US Census Bureau.

She is one of about 3,100 who moved to Peabody over the same seven-year period. Lynn - the largest city in Essex County - had a population drop of 2.2 percent, from 89,050 in 2000 to 87,122 residents last year, Census records show.

The change shows a census tale of two cities. Lynn, where a condo craze turned century-old buildings into trendy lofts, still struggles to attract residents. But Peabody, its next-door neighbor that has long benefited from prime highway access, got a bounce from Brooksby Village, which added almost 1,000 housing units, and 1,800 residents, since opening in 2002.

Officials in each community say the Census estimates, released last month, aren't surprising.

"We want our population counted," said Lynn Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. "But the numbers seem steady. In a big city like Lynn, there is always going to be some fluctuation."

"A lot of our growth is because of Brooksby," said Peabody Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti. "But we have had other pockets of development, too."

The swing reflects a trend across Essex County, where old industrial cities are losing population. "Cities in that area haven't been growing much," said Greg Harper, a demographer at the US Census Bureau in Maryland. "Things have been fairly stagnant."

The county added only about 10,000 residents from 2000 to 2007, the Census data show. Much of the growth was in towns such as Danvers, Groveland, and Merrimac.

Haverhill, a city that still has vast amounts of open space, added 933 residents over the period, spurred by construction of single-family homes and conversions of old mill buildings into apartments downtown.

The county's growth rate for the seven-year period was 1.3 percent, compared with 3.4 percent in Suffolk County, which includes Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. Middlesex County, which includes Everett, Malden, Melrose, and Wakefield and is the state's largest county with 1.4 million residents, grew by less than 1 percent.

County estimates are based on births, deaths, and migration of residents, whose movement is tracked through Medicare records and income tax filings, among other ways. Estimates for cities and towns are based on housing data, primarily the number of building permits issued each year.

County and local estimates together reflect strength and vibrancy of the region's real estate market, Harper noted.

"You can build a lot of buildings and they could still sit vacant," Harper said, noting the Census does not track occupancy rates. "If the county isn't growing, either the housing units aren't selling, or the average household population is going down."

Estimates are used to determine how much federal funding a community receives, such as a Community Development Block Grant. The grants, available to communities with populations of 50,000 or more, are used to fix parks and playgrounds, improve housing, provide business loans, and for other purposes.

Peabody received its first grant in 2006, when its population estimate broke 50,000. It received $406,734 that year, and $459,228 this year, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to Brooksby, Peabody has had a surge of apartment development, such as the 447-unit Dearborn at Fairfield, off Route 128.

"Peabody has always had good access for people," Bonfanti said. "And it is still a fairly affordable community."

As Lynn's population has declined, so have its block grant dollars. Funding dropped from $3.2 million in 2002 to $2.5 million in 2007, according to HUD.

Clancy noted the decline also could be linked to federal spending cuts that have chipped away at block grant appropriations in the federal budget. "It hasn't been a priority for the [Bush] administration," he said. "A lot of cities have lost money."

But Clancy said Lynn also must work hard on its own to retain, and attract, new residents. Since 2005, Lynn has lost 775 residents, according to the recent data. Crime, gangs, and most recently home foreclosures are a challenge.

"It's our job as a municipality to provide services and amenities to keep the middle class vibrant and strong," Clancy said, citing spending on schools and police as examples. "If we can do that, I'm hopeful we can attract others, too."

Some Lynn residents cite various reasons for packing up.

"The area got too busy," said Linda Ricciardi, who lived on Tracey Avenue for 23 years before moving to Peabody two years ago. "When we first lived there, it was nice and quiet. "But then it was time. We really, really hung in there for a while, but one day we just realized it was time to move."

At Brooksby Village, 42 former Lynn residents live at the complex off Route 114. Some, like King, moved for health reasons. Kay McManus, mother of a former Lynn mayor, moved in 2002, three years after her husband died. "I was anxious about coming here," she said. "But the good thing is, there are so many Lynners here."

"Lynn Red Rockers," a social club organized by McManus, brings together former Lynn residents now living at Brooksby. Over coffee, they chat about memories, from walks along Lynn Beach to rounds of golf at Gannon Municipal Golf Course. They even organized a bus trip to Red Rock Park on Lynn Shore Drive, for which they named their club.

"Lynn has a big red rock, so we decided to call ourselves that," McManus explained.

Dot and Leo Weeks, who moved to Brooksby two years ago after 47 years in Lynn, return to their home city every week to visit friends or volunteer. "We love to go home to Lynn," said Leo, 79, a retired retail store manager. "In lots of ways, it seems like we never really left."

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.