Mapping & Monitoring
Changes in Population in Southeastern Massachusetts
With the loss of agricultural and forest lands and with increases in population, the character of the land is changing. Population has increased since the industrial revolution in Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol counties, but it has done so much more rapidly since the 1950s.
Population trends for Southeastern Massachusetts
A simple measure of how the character of the land is changing is population density, or how many people, on average, live per unit of land. Not only does the character of the land change when population density increases, it is well documented that water quality and natural ecosystems suffer greatly with increased human presence.
The average population density for Massachusetts is about 250 persons/km2. Currently, the population density of Bristol, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties are about 375, 280, and 620 persons/km2 respectively. Some define rural as towns with less than 100 persons/km2. If so, most of the towns of Southeastern Massachusetts that were rural are now gone. Others define urban to be towns with more than 300 persons/km2. Consequently, the number of urban areas in Southeastern Massachusetts has grown while the largest change is an increase in suburban towns (100 to 300 persons/km2). Formerly urban areas are being outpaced in terms of growth by former rural and suburban towns.
| Population Density (people/km2) | ||
|---|---|---|
Community
|
1960 |
1990 |
| New Bedford | 1,940 |
1,775 |
| Fall River | 1,208 |
1,112 |
| Somerset | 574 |
858 |
| Attleboro | 376 |
583 |
| N. Attleboro | 302 |
555 |
| Fairhaven | 440 |
496 |
| Taunton | 337 |
458 |
| Mansfield | 145 |
418 |
| Seekonk | 175 |
280 |
| Plainville | 131 |
265 |
| Swansea | 162 |
259 |
| Norton | 91 |
240 |
| Raynham | 77 |
219 |
| Acushnet | 119 |
210 |
| Wareham | 96 |
207 |
| Dartmouth | 89 |
186 |
| Mattapoisett | 72 |
145 |
| Marion | 75 |
134 |
| Berkley | 37 |
133 |
| Lakeville | 41 |
125 |
| Carver | 20 |
113 |
| Middleborough | 61 |
109 |
| Dighton | 64 |
105 |
| Westport | 49 |
105 |
| Freetown | 32 |
88 |
| Rehoboth | 41 |
83 |
| Rochester | 18 |
52 |
A visual example of formerly rural areas being converted to urban settings can be seen below. This illustration is from a series of topographic maps (source: University of New Hampshire supplemented by recent aerial photography of the Kingston area on the south shore.
Kingston Village, 1889. About 80 buildings are noted in this 3.7 square mile area.
Kingston Village, 1938. Although this shows the beginnings of coastal development, most roads are the same.
Kingston Village, 1977. The major transportation change is the divided highway (Rte. 3) running North/South and there is now intensive coastal development.
Aerial Photo of Kingston Village, April 2001. This image shows much more intensive development, a major golf course, large areas of parking, and new sand pits. The largest single area of new pavement is parking for new MBTA commuter train line (see photo lower center).
