Growing West Valley City

Recently the West Valley City Community and Economic Development department reported some population and building permit estimates and data.  It is interesting information and also important to understand the make-up and direction of our community.  Below are some of the notable features of that report:

As of January 1, 2014, West Valley City’s estimated population was 133,483. Our population estimate uses cumulative building and demolition permit data to calculate housing units by type, considers the amount of time before a permitted unit is occupied (“lag units”), and adjusts for vacancy rates and household size by unit type.

 

Single family housing construction remains consistent, but lower than pre-2007 levels. Multi-family permit activity has increased substantially over the last several years, as the Residences at Fairbourne Station, Sage Gate at Hayne’s Landing, Pinnacle at Highbury, and the Villages at Westridge projects all have begun construction. The following table provides a permitted unit by type breakdown:

 

 

BUILDING PERMIT ACTIVITY FOR NEW RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS SINCE 2010 CENSUS          

	2010	2011	2012	2013	Total	% of Total
Single Family	26,802	89	206	201	27,298	68.1%
Multi-Family	10,146	20	245	193	10,604	26.5%
Mobile Home	2,183	0	0	0	2,183	5.5%
Total	39,131	109	451	394	40,085
Cumulative	39,131	39,240	39,691	40,085

 

 

The permitted units by type are then adjusted to account for units that are under construction at the time of this estimate, as well as for housing units that have been demolished during the year, neither of which will be occupied. Since the 2010 Census, a number of single family homes have been demolished for the Fairbourne Station project, and many for the Mountain View Corridor (45 in 2013). We also adjust for household size by housing unit type to yield a potential population assuming full occupancy of all housing units in West Valley City:

 

 

	Total Permits Issued	Estimated Construction Lag Time	Units Not Completed	Demolished Since 2010 Census	Completed Units		House- hold Size	Potential Population
Single Family	27,298	5 months	82	198		27,018	3.82	103,209
Multi-Family	10,604	6 months	180	72		10,352	2.74	28,364
Mobile Home	2,183	1 month	0	12		2,171	2.64	5,731
Total	40,085		262	282		39,541		137,305

 

The population potential including 193 in group quarters would be 137,498 if there were no vacant housing units. Vacancy rates from Equimark’s January 2013 Multi-Family Report are applied to multi-family units and duplexes, and the Census number is applied to single family homes. Vacancy rates are applied below to yield our population estimate for January 1, 2014:

 

	Potential Population	Vacancy Rate	Total	Percent of Total
Single Family	103,209	2.20%	100,938	75.6%
Multi-Family	28,364	5.30%	26,861	20.1%
Mobile Home	5,731	4.20%	5,491	4.1%
Group Quarters	193	-	193	0.1%
Total	137,498		133,483

 

1 January 2014 Population Estimate: 133,483

 

Population Trends and Projections

 

The projections for the years 2020 and 2040 are based on Wasatch Front Regional Council projections:

 

1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
95,808	100,121	103,777	105,337	107,830	110,571	112,173
2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
113,730	116,719	119,226	120,757	122,896	124,963	125,218
2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2020	2040
125,498	129,480	131,877	132,654	133,483	146,000	160,000