Pinal County JLUS Final Report | Page 26

  Capturing and describing certain characteristics of these communities provides a baseline context from which informed decisions can be made when assessing compatibility strategies. The goal is to provide information that enables stakeholders to understand the relationships between the communities and the Arizona Army National Guard (AZARNG). This information is intended to be considered with other factors to help decision makers generate informed and coherent planning policies and to make decisions about future development and economic growth before compatibility issues arise. JLUS Community Growth Trends The following section reviews trends in the Project Area’s population growth, housing,  and median home values.  This information establishes a regional context for projecting  growth and development in the JLUS Project Area and for effective analysis‐based,  compatibility planning.  Population Trends Comparisons of population values through time in a given geographical area are used to  identify past growth or decline in a particular area and to predict future growth  dynamics. Population ultimately drives employment and housing growth.  The population  data used in this section is based on information obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau.   The information presented provides a comparison of the changes in population for the  communities that participated in the Pinal County JLUS.  The population figures represent the permanent population in the Project Area, but do  not consider the temporary population surges associated with the tourism industry and  migration due to seasonal employment. Table 1 shows the 2000 and 2010 Census totals,  2017 Census estimates, and percentage of change in the populations of jurisdictions  within the JLUS Project Area, as well as in the State of Arizona.  8 Community Profiles