As most of you know if you’ve read this column long enough - Fountain Inn is undergoing a major update to our Comprehensive Plan, our 10-year outlook for the community. This process is required by state law, but is also a wonderful opportunity to have serious and big conversations about our town. 

As an aside - you can follow along and see all of the materials that our Steering Committee has reviewed, look at past public meeting information, and monitor upcoming public meetings online at: https://www.fountaininn.org/311/INNvision-Comprehensive-Plan

Today though I wanted to focus on in on data point that I think is vital for us to realize as we plan for the future - Fountain Inn is getting younger.

In the 2010 Census our median age was around 36 years old. In the 2020 Census, it dropped to 32.6. Meanwhile, over that same time period, our population grew from close to 8,000 to nearly 11,000 people. Additionally, roughly 8% of our population is aged 65 and over - and the same percentage is 5 years old or younger.

Our city’s population is getting younger.

These trends are running against the grain of our state - whose median age increased roughly 3 years to 39.7 years old in the last census.

As we look to the future of our community, we have to be sure everyone, regardless of their age, finds joy, opportunity, and support in our town. We cannot ignore that we are growing across all demographics in Fountain Inn. So yes, we have to keep investing in things like our Senior Programs and commercial recruitment for seniors. But our trend line is unique here in Fountain Inn, and with that comes an increasing duty for us to be keenly aware of what it means to have young professionals move here, for young families to put down their roots here, and for our children to grow up in Fountain Inn. 

The ripple effects of this trend have added another strategic question to the list in front of us at City Hall - how do we make sure our new Fountain Inn families become forever Fountain Inn families?■