We have to meet the educational needs, the housing needs for senior citizens, transportation needs and veterans needs. Dartmouth is currently constructing a new high school to accommodate its rapidly growing student population. The town has 6,262 residents under the age of 18. The town expected modest growth, according to Town Clerk Eileen Lowney, making the virtually flat growth rate surprising. The town's population grew 0.17 percent from 1990 to 2000, from 16,132 to 16,159.
Growth is apparent in two of the town's six precincts.
Ms. Lowney said that means a likely adjustment in precinct lines. The federal census numbers are consistent with Fairhaven's own town census. In 1990, the federal numbers far exceeded the town's estimation of its population, she said. Like Acushnet next door, Fairhaven's population is believed to be increasingly older, with 20 percent or more being senior citizens. More than 78 percent of the town's residents are 18 or older.