Thread: FL-Foreign influx boosts state

By Kate Spinner


Published: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, June 1, 2009 at 9:35 p.m.
Raymond Parkyns could manufacture his patented violin and cello bows anywhere in the world, after decades of success in the London area. But he picked Sarasota as his new home, joining thousands of other immigrants in recent years who have moved to Florida.

Their steady influx is a bright spot for the state's struggling economy. With so many people leaving Florida for other states, foreign immigration kept Florida's population from shrinking for the first time since the end of World War II.

Immigration is expected to play an even bigger role in Florida's growth over the next few years with the typical economic pillars, construction and real estate, slumping.

It is not that more immigrants are finding Florida -- the number moving to the state has averaged 100,000 yearly since 1990, according to U.S. Census data.

But because established residents are moving out and people from other parts of the country are not moving in, the percentage of foreign-born among Florida's population has increased from about 12 percent in 1990 to 19 percent in 2007, the latest year for which data is available.

At the same time, the type of immigrants moving in appears to be shifting, with fewer immigrants coming for building-related jobs and more, such as Parkyns, starting businesses or entering white collar professions.

Florida's growth has historically been driven by migrants from other states, typically retirees and the service workers who support them.

But with Florida suffering more from the recession than most of the U.S., more people left the Sunshine State than moved in for the first time in decades.

Only the addition of roughly 77,500 immigrants, and slightly more births than deaths, prevented an unheard of population decline.

Given Florida's growth-dependent economy, immigration last year softened the blow from the catastrophic real estate bust, said Bill Geller, president of the Sarasota Association of Realtors.

"There's been a consistent influx of people from the European market that do come here on different visas to live and work and become part of the community. That definitely has contributed to keeping people in the state," Geller said.

Parkyns, an enthusiastic 71-year-old who plays trombone with the Sarasota Jazz Ensemble, moved here as Florida's growth started to slacken about two years ago.

That year, more people moved to Florida from other countries than from within the United States for the first time this decade.

The trend heightened last year, when 9,286 more people moved out of the state than moved in from other parts of the nation. The state's overall population gain of 128,800, bolstered by immigration, amounted to a 67 percent drop in population growth from the 2005 peak of 388,665.

Bringing ambitions

The trends are not a given, however. Eventually, the struggling U.S. economy could have worldwide repercussions, slowing foreign migration.

"The international migration depends a lot on what is happening with other countries' economics," said David Denslow, a University of Florida economics professor.

Today's immigrants are coming from countries that have not experienced a big economic downturn, Denslow said.

Historically large percentage of immigrants to Florida find jobs in the service industry and in manual labor. But population increases in those sectors generally follow economic prosperity.

Immigrants moving here now are more likely bringing with them different ambitions than those who sought jobs in the construction industry, said Cesar Gomez, executive director of the Gulf Coast Latin Chamber of Commerce.

Florida has been a popular place for immigrants for at least two decades. The U.S. Census in 2000 counted 2.67 million Florida residents who were born abroad, compared with 1.66 million in 1990. By 2007, estimates put that number at 3.37 million.

The Sarasota-Bradenton area's foreign population was about 81,500 in 2007, a 55 percent increase over 2000.

About 20 percent of the Sarasota region's immigrants were born in Mexico, followed by Canada at 11 percent and the United Kingdom at 7 percent.

"Sarasota has always been a popular international destination, and what happens is people come here to visit and they fall in love with it and some of them decide to come to move here, and when they move here they might bring the types of businesses they saw at home," said Vicki Vega, with the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce's international business council.

Alluring destination

Weather and the friendly community lured Parkyns to Sarasota. He initially bought a vacation home, but made the permanent leap two years ago.

"You're stuck with us whether you like it or not," Parkyns said.

He invented the world's first and only violin and cello bows that musicians can re-hair themselves. Now he manufactures the horse-hair hanks for the bows in a small office at the airport commerce park in Manatee.

It is a small operation, but he hires Americans.

Sue Simpson, 52, and her husband are an English couple who started vacationing in Venice in 1988, charmed by the quiet community. They moved there year-round in 2002 on a temporary visa that requires them to run businesses and hire Americans. She runs a massage business and he a home security and maintenance firm.

"We feel the weather is ultimate. To me the way of life is so much better over here," Simpson said. "It's almost like we're in a little time capsule."

Olga Ovchiyan, 29, moved to Parrish from Russia three years ago and quickly found her niche as a financial services adviser. There are plenty of Russian-speaking people in the region who would rather get financial advice in their own language, she said.

"North Port, Venice -- they have a lot of Russians and Ukrainians," Ovchiyan said.

Changing demographic

Since 2000, the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Sarasota include Haitians, French, Ukrainians, Colombians and Peruvians. The number of people born in those nations and living here at least doubled in population, with increases of more than 1,000 new people from each nation.

The biggest rise was among Haitians, which grew from about 1,100 in the year 2000 to an estimated 3,700 seven years later. The French-born population jumped from 661 to 2,082.

Overall, people born in Latin American nations constitute about 43 percent of the region's foreign born, while Europeans make up about 33 percent.

"What's very true with immigration is that people always hear about a place before they come. Usually they hear about it from their friends and neighbors from their country of origin," said Chris Jaensch, a Sarasota-based immigration attorney.

Gomez fits that category. He moved to the Sarasota area four years ago after attending his brother's wedding. He planned to travel on to Canada for law school, but an immigration mix-up forced his brother to return to Colombia temporarily. Gomez shelved his plans and fell in love with Mabel, the daughter of a family friend.

Within the year, Gomez, 30, and Mabel married. They had the chance to live in Miami, but opted for Sarasota's slower pace.

Trained in human rights law, Gomez retains a desire to become an attorney.

"The people who come specifically to Sarasota and Manatee, they're not people who are looking for the super life," Gomez said. "They want the opportunity to grow their kids in a place that is not too hard like Miami."


By Kate Spinner


Published: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, June 1, 2009 at 9:35 p.m.
Raymond Parkyns could manufacture his patented violin and cello bows anywhere in the world, after decades of success in the London area. But he picked Sarasota as his new home, joining thousands of other immigrants in recent years who have moved to Florida.

Their steady influx is a bright spot for the state's struggling economy. With so many people leaving Florida for other states, foreign immigration kept Florida's population from shrinking for the first time since the end of World War II.

Immigration is expected to play an even bigger role in Florida's growth over the next few years with the typical economic pillars, construction and real estate, slumping.

It is not that more immigrants are finding Florida -- the number moving to the state has averaged 100,000 yearly since 1990, according to U.S. Census data.

But because established residents are moving out and people from other parts of the country are not moving in, the percentage of foreign-born among Florida's population has increased from about 12 percent in 1990 to 19 percent in 2007, the latest year for which data is available.

At the same time, the type of immigrants moving in appears to be shifting, with fewer immigrants coming for building-related jobs and more, such as Parkyns, starting businesses or entering white collar professions.

Florida's growth has historically been driven by migrants from other states, typically retirees and the service workers who support them.

But with Florida suffering more from the recession than most of the U.S., more people left the Sunshine State than moved in for the first time in decades.

Only the addition of roughly 77,500 immigrants, and slightly more births than deaths, prevented an unheard of population decline.

Given Florida's growth-dependent economy, immigration last year softened the blow from the catastrophic real estate bust, said Bill Geller, president of the Sarasota Association of Realtors.

"There's been a consistent influx of people from the European market that do come here on different visas to live and work and become part of the community. That definitely has contributed to keeping people in the state," Geller said.

Parkyns, an enthusiastic 71-year-old who plays trombone with the Sarasota Jazz Ensemble, moved here as Florida's growth started to slacken about two years ago.

That year, more people moved to Florida from other countries than from within the United States for the first time this decade.

The trend heightened last year, when 9,286 more people moved out of the state than moved in from other parts of the nation. The state's overall population gain of 128,800, bolstered by immigration, amounted to a 67 percent drop in population growth from the 2005 peak of 388,665.

Bringing ambitions

The trends are not a given, however. Eventually, the struggling U.S. economy could have worldwide repercussions, slowing foreign migration.

"The international migration depends a lot on what is happening with other countries' economics," said David Denslow, a University of Florida economics professor.

Today's immigrants are coming from countries that have not experienced a big economic downturn, Denslow said.

Historically large percentage of immigrants to Florida find jobs in the service industry and in manual labor. But population increases in those sectors generally follow economic prosperity.

Immigrants moving here now are more likely bringing with them different ambitions than those who sought jobs in the construction industry, said Cesar Gomez, executive director of the Gulf Coast Latin Chamber of Commerce.

Florida has been a popular place for immigrants for at least two decades. The U.S. Census in 2000 counted 2.67 million Florida residents who were born abroad, compared with 1.66 million in 1990. By 2007, estimates put that number at 3.37 million.

The Sarasota-Bradenton area's foreign population was about 81,500 in 2007, a 55 percent increase over 2000.

About 20 percent of the Sarasota region's immigrants were born in Mexico, followed by Canada at 11 percent and the United Kingdom at 7 percent.

"Sarasota has always been a popular international destination, and what happens is people come here to visit and they fall in love with it and some of them decide to come to move here, and when they move here they might bring the types of businesses they saw at home," said Vicki Vega, with the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce's international business council.

Alluring destination

Weather and the friendly community lured Parkyns to Sarasota. He initially bought a vacation home, but made the permanent leap two years ago.

"You're stuck with us whether you like it or not," Parkyns said.

He invented the world's first and only violin and cello bows that musicians can re-hair themselves. Now he manufactures the horse-hair hanks for the bows in a small office at the airport commerce park in Manatee.

It is a small operation, but he hires Americans.

Sue Simpson, 52, and her husband are an English couple who started vacationing in Venice in 1988, charmed by the quiet community. They moved there year-round in 2002 on a temporary visa that requires them to run businesses and hire Americans. She runs a massage business and he a home security and maintenance firm.

"We feel the weather is ultimate. To me the way of life is so much better over here," Simpson said. "It's almost like we're in a little time capsule."

Olga Ovchiyan, 29, moved to Parrish from Russia three years ago and quickly found her niche as a financial services adviser. There are plenty of Russian-speaking people in the region who would rather get financial advice in their own language, she said.

"North Port, Venice -- they have a lot of Russians and Ukrainians," Ovchiyan said.

Changing demographic

Since 2000, the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Sarasota include Haitians, French, Ukrainians, Colombians and Peruvians. The number of people born in those nations and living here at least doubled in population, with increases of more than 1,000 new people from each nation.

The biggest rise was among Haitians, which grew from about 1,100 in the year 2000 to an estimated 3,700 seven years later. The French-born population jumped from 661 to 2,082.

Overall, people born in Latin American nations constitute about 43 percent of the region's foreign born, while Europeans make up about 33 percent.

"What's very true with immigration is that people always hear about a place before they come. Usually they hear about it from their friends and neighbors from their country of origin," said Chris Jaensch, a Sarasota-based immigration attorney.

Gomez fits that category. He moved to the Sarasota area four years ago after attending his brother's wedding. He planned to travel on to Canada for law school, but an immigration mix-up forced his brother to return to Colombia temporarily. Gomez shelved his plans and fell in love with Mabel, the daughter of a family friend.

Within the year, Gomez, 30, and Mabel married. They had the chance to live in Miami, but opted for Sarasota's slower pace.

Trained in human rights law, Gomez retains a desire to become an attorney.

"The people who come specifically to Sarasota and Manatee, they're not people who are looking for the super life," Gomez said. "They want the opportunity to grow their kids in a place that is not too hard like Miami."


http://By Kate Spinner<br /> <br />...<br /> <br />http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090602/ARTICLE/906021047/2107/BUSINESS?Title=Foreign-influx-boosts-state

I used to live in Sarasota, Florida myself for several years. I do not doubt that Florida has been helped by immigration but it is not for the immigrants to decide how much without considering the citizens and native. Nor how many can come and it is not something we can tolerate if they bring in friends and family outside the law.

Florida has been a popular place for immigrants for at least two decades. The U.S. Census in 2000 counted 2.67 million Florida residents who were born abroad, compared with 1.66 million in 1990. By 2007, estimates put that number at 3.37 million.

Could the large influx of immigrants be the reason many American citizens are being forced out of Florida? Isn't the same thing also happening in California?

Sarasota has always been a beautiful place, at least Marie Shelby Botanical Gardens and the waterfront area. I would always go up there when I needed to just get away from the tourist trap of Ft. Myers Beach on weekends.
I got tired of being lectured by folks from all over the world saying that they did things much better at home. I didn't much care about the idea that real estate prices would keep going to the statosphere, which many real estate pundits kept blathering.
NC is fabulous and perfect strangers are willing to look you in the eye and smile or say hello, and I can get a good night's sleep without worrying the house may blow away due to some hurricane.

"Could the large influx of immigrants be the reason many American citizens are being forced out of Florida? Isn't the same thing also happening in California?"

That is exactly what happened. My family had to move several times within the S Fl area to escape crime and the many other problems that the illegals brought with them. Finally, I left S Fl altogether for a safer N Fl location. Anyone who proclaims that immigration has helped Florida is not thinking this through. Florida has become another lost region of this country just like most of California and parts of the SW US. Crime, gangs, cost of welfare, lost jobs and rights of Americans, and the list goes on. The dirty little secret is that between misguided clergy, increasingly leftist government, and the liars in mainstream media, the desire is to target America for some bizarre experiment that will end in our extinction.

Her name is appropriate---Spinner.