The Cleveland metro area,—which stretches from Elyria to the west to Mentor to the east -- saw more than 88 hundred people leave in 2006 and 2007. Youngstown lost close to 6 thousand from its metro area. Cleveland State Demographer Mark Salling [SALL-LING] says the report demonstrates how population is being redistributed throughout the region.
Mark Salling: What it really means is that the surrounding suburban counties are also losing population and perhaps not losing population as fast as it would seem because they’re also picking up migrants from the central urban counties like Cuyahoga in our case.
Urban areas to the south are faring better. Greater Cincinnati, which includes portions of Kentucky and Indiana, added more than 12-thousand people, making it the largest metro area in Ohio. But, the Columbus metro area was the biggest population gainer in the state, with more than 19 thousand people added.
Tasha Flournoy, 90.3.