...AND REDDER...:

Surge of Population in the Exurbs Continues (RICK LYMAN, 6/21/06, NY Times)

Once again, the fastest-growing cities in the United States are some of the far-flung exurbs in the Sun Belt and the Far West, according to fresh population estimates from the Census Bureau.

The bureau's annual survey of municipalities with at least 100,000 residents shows that from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005, four outer suburbs in California, three in Florida, two in Arizona and one in Nevada were the country's most rapidly growing. [...]

The only change in population ranking among the nation's 10 largest cities was that San Antonio supplanted San Diego in seventh place, although Phoenix came within fewer than 2,500 people of taking over fifth place from Philadelphia, as it will almost certainly do in next year's estimates.

In terms of the actual number of additional residents, as opposed to percentage growth, Phoenix attracted the most, its population rising an estimated 44,456, to 1,461,575.