The recent population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau are illustrative of a longtime Nevada trend. That just when you get ready bet on a trend, it evaporates.
Few states in the union have experienced Nevada's boom and bust cycle, driving people in and out of the state like a pump.
Douglas County's official population in 1960 was 3,481 people, according to the federal government. That was up from 1,215 people counted in the 1870 census.
That's a few more than 2,200 new residents over the course of 90 years.
There are few people living in Douglas County today who were born here and even fewer who were here when the upward trend started in the 1960s.
Less than a single lifetime has transformed Carson Valley to what it is today, home to 40,000 more people than lived here 48 years ago.
The numbers in the latest estimate are from nine months ago. Whatever the results are for next year have pretty much been determined by now.
Most explanations deal with the high cost of fuel or the soft housing market.
But that's the funny thing about Nevada trends. Like the weather, all you have to do is wait a bit and they'll change.
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