A new junior high school is springing up a few miles away from where I live in Mandan, North Dakota.  It seems like it wasn’t there a few weeks ago, and all of a sudden it’s growing right up into the air.

So I had to ask myself where it was coming from.  And it appears that Mandan really is growing.

Statewide statistics show North Dakota at about 9.3 people per square mile.  Morton County, where Mandan is located, has 13.1.  The population in Morton County grew 1.8 percent between 2000 and 2006, while it fell by 1 percent across the state.

Maybe the county is only growing because people are moving from farms into more metropolitan areas.  Maybe there are more people moving from out of state to the Bismarck area who want to live a little farther west than the capitol city. 

Either way, it’s impacting my neighborhood, and it’s fun to watch.