Willow, Alaska

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Willow is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 1,658.

Willow has been the subject of several never-executed proposals to move the state capital from Juneau, due to its location within the populated Southcentral region, yet far enough from Anchorage to avoid becoming a satellite of it. Landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg created a master plan for the city as part of one such proposal.

[edit] Geography

Willow is located at 61°46′10″N, 149°59′28″W (61.769345, -149.991065)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1,794.5 km² (692.9 mi²). 1,773.7 km² (684.8 mi²) of it is land and 20.8 km² (8.0 mi²) of it (1.16%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,658 people, 654 households, and 438 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 0.9/km² (2.4/mi²). There were 1,530 housing units at an average density of 0.9/km² (2.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.40% White, 3.08% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.42% from other races, and 3.86% from two or more races. 1.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 654 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 114.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.3 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,906, and the median income for a family was $41,944. Males had a median income of $42,188 versus $29,792 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,323. About 15.3% of families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.1% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.