COLORADO'S RUGGED APPEAL CREATING BOOM IN RURAL AREAS.

Byline: Drake Witham Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Julie Rodriguez, an assistant building inspector in Pagosa Springs, Colo., trudges through waist-deep snow to approve foundations. Builders in this one-road, mountain town in Archuleta County can't afford to wait for spring. The people are coming too fast.

Archuleta is the second fastest-growing county in America, with a one-year population increase of 11 percent, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday.

The population of the United States increased by less than one percent in 1996, but rural counties in Colorado and elsewhere across the West are booming as people move away from the plains of the Midwest and the traffic and pollution of Northeastern cities.

Other fast-growing areas include the Atlanta suburbs and suburban counties in Texas and Nevada.

The biggest population losers last year were several counties in the Plains states of Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Worst hit was Geary County, Kan., which saw an 11 percent drop in residents.

But people left the big cities of the East behind as well. With 21,000 fewer people, Philadelphia had the largest number leave. Baltimore and Washington, D.C., showed similar trends.

``The amount of loss is greater than what we expected but it's part of a long-term trend,'' said Barry Seymour, assistant executive director of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in discussing Philadelphia's decline.

Seymour said people were choosing to live in the suburbs and work there, too. ``Rather than facing an hour commute people are opting to commute 20 minutes,'' he added.

Many appear to be flocking to the sun and crisp air of Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Colorado boasts five of the top 10 growing counties last year.

``It's kind of spooky,'' Rodriguez said. ``We've outgrown the schools and we're dealing with more crime. But people like it here for the safety of a small community.''

Building plans are under way for a second grocery store and a new high school as Pagosa Springs, in southwestern Colorado, tries to deal with a growing population, up 49 percent since 1990, while holding on to its small town charm. It's a problem faced by several Colorado towns in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.

At the top of the one-year growth list is Douglas County, sandwiched between Denver and Colorado Springs along the front range of the Rockies. Its population has exploded by 85 percent in the past six years and nearly 12 percent in 1996.

``The combination of the climate, the job market and the availability of housing make it attractive. It's close enough to drive to work but far enough to avoid the smog,'' said Mark Hestand, a planning compliance official in Castle Rock, Douglas County's largest town.

On the losing side, David Bossemeyer, executive director of the Economic Development Commission in Junction City, Kan., was surprised to hear that Geary County was the fastest declining county in the nation. Neighboring Riley County had the sixth most rapidly declining population.

Bossemeyer attributed the decline in both counties to the downsizing of Fort Riley army base. He added that 1,200 new jobs have been added in Geary since August of last year.

Luce County, Mich., ranked fifth in rate of increase at 10.5 percent. Other counties in the top 10 were Lassen County in Northern California at 10.6 percent increase, and Eureka County, Nev., which ranked ninth at 9.6 percent.