This year the Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop celebrates 40 years of providing high school students an opportunity to enter the world of journalism.

LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA ESTá INCREMENTANDO en la ciudad de Columbia, Missouri. Es por esta razón que el Centro Latino, que celebra su décimo aniversario, ayuda a que las personas se sientan en casa. Nuestro reportero, Alan Sadler, nos dice cómo.

As the population grows in Columbia, so does the number of families. The census drew a lot of attention this year. But numbers don’t tell the full story.

Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop’s Brittany Downey explores how the community’s growth is affecting newcomers and their children.

Hispanic immigration is growing throughout Columbia. One organization — Centro Latino — is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Centro Latino is helping people ease into the local lifestyle. Alan Sadler shows us how.

As Columbia grows, local youth sports look to do the same.

Here’s MUJW’s David Wang with the story.

Two thirds of MU students are gone for the summer. However, enrollment numbers continue to rise.

Sterling Daniels shows us how students handle summer life and fit it into the community.

Due to overcrowding, the University of Missouri’s Residential Life department is making quite an offer to upperclassmen.

As Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop’s Aaron Mack reports, many students could be getting a nice bonus.

The combination of Columbia’s growing population and a hurting economy has led to a nightmare for many job searchers.

However, as MUJW’s Andrea Jankelow reports, the growth may actually be a solution.

From left to right: Sam Easley, sophomore at Rock Bridge High School; Kristi Webster, recent graduate of Hallsville High School; D.J. Loveall, a seventh-grade student at Smithton Middle School; Michell Nichols, junior at Fulton High School. Photos by Phoebe Sexton/MUJW

Columbia teens and pre-teens know the city is growing, but some believe the growth is bringing it more in line with its larger cousins St. Louis and Kansas City. To others, Columbia is still mostly a “college town” with a small-town flavor. To those who call Columbia home, they are trying to take the steady growth in stride and adapt to the changes that come along with the population growth.

According to information from the 2008 Missouri census data center. Columbia has surpassed a population of 100,000, a growth rate of about 48 percent since 1990, when the population was 70,000.

In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated St. Louis had a population of abut 347,000 and Kansas City had 447,000.

The Missouri Urban Journalism Workshop asked young people what they think of life in Columbia.

While some pointed out challenges, most said they were happy to live here.

“I like the fact that it’s a small town,” said Sam Easley, a sophomore at Rock Bridge High School. “I hate when people complain about the size.”

Teens such as Easley cite advantages of living in a medium-size city: affordability, relative safety, less pollution and more privacy.

Education continues to be one of the major industries in Columbia. MU has helped Columbia grow. MU ranks 102 on a list of 1,400 on the U.S. News’ list of “Best Colleges 2010.”

As MU enrollment grows each year, so do employment opportunities, both for faculty and other workers.

In addition to MU, Columbia is home to Stephens College and Columbia College.

Although some people are comfortable with Columbia’s growth rate, others are opposed.

“I don’t like that it’s growing,” Kristi Webster, a recent graduate of Hallsville High School, said. “It’s getting too crowded and there’s not enough space.”

Webster complained about traffic congestion and bad drivers.

Another example of Columbia’s growing pains is the increase in the crime rate. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Statistics for 2009 reported that violent crime increased 28 percent in 2008.

Some of the younger residents recognize that crime is a growing problem, but they are still happy to live here.

“I love Columbia because it’s my hometown,” D.J. Loveall, a seventh-grade student at Smithton Middle School, said. “But the violence is bad, like people get beat up and stuff.”

On the brighter side, some youth point to the recreational opportunities that Columbia offers.

“My favorite part about Columbia is the free swimming,” Michell Nichols, a junior at Fulton High School, said as she spent the day with her mother and sister at Stephens Lake Park.

Kathryn Walker, an MU student, asks students what they like about a painting at the Columbia Art League Gallery on July 15. By Paul Mossine/MUJW

For many newcomers to Columbia, employment at MU is the reason they relocate to the city.

MU is one of the city’s largest employers, providing 8,545 jobs in the city, according to the Regional Economic Development Inc. of Columbia.

Brad Best came to Columbia a year and a half ago for a job at the university’s School of Journalism. The atmosphere of the city is what he enjoys the most, he said.

“It’s a college town, and I came from a Chicago suburb,” Best said. “The food variety, culture, Ragtag … there are lots of different things you (can) do in a town like this.”

Ragtag is an independent film theater that aims to spread cultural diversity across Columbia.

Besides the university, city leaders say that the city’s low cost of living, its parks system, the arts and diversity of restaurants also attract people to the city.

“If you like to be able to try Thai food or Chinese, this is the place,” said Bob McDavid, mayor of Columbia.

Some of the unique restaurants in Columbia include Shakespeare’s Pizza, Booche’s, Murry’s and Taj Mahal Indian Cuisine.

McDavid also thinks Columbia has a certain “Midwest style” that attracts people and makes them want to stay.

“We just have a welcoming Midwestern culture,” he said. “If we didn’t have it, I wouldn’t know how to create it. … There’s just something about the Midwest. People like to help each other.”

Donald Laird, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, said that in addition to higher education, health care and insurance are the main industries in the city that bring new residents to town. The city is also an ideal place for retirees to settle with their saved-up income, he added.

“A tremendous number of retirees move to Columbia — mostly couples,” he said. “We love for them to come, retire and be a part of the community.”

Columbia is also centrally located, so if their children live in Kansas City and St. Louis, Columbia can be an ideal halfway point for retirees to settle, Laird added.

Jill Wieneke, of the Columbia Police Department, said many people — herself included — initially came to Columbia to go to college and ended up staying or coming back after they graduated.

“Generally people come here and stay,” she said.

For other new residents to Columbia, the peace and quiet is what brought them here.

“In St. Louis, when you’re going somewhere, you need a car,” said Sujeeth Kumar, who moved to Columbia from St. Louis about six months ago and now works at a perfume kiosk at Columbia Mall. “There’s a lot of traffic.”

But in Columbia, he doesn’t need a car because it’s easy to get a ride or take a taxi to get around town, he said.

“I like how this city is calm,” he said.