Thread: Hispanic, Asian populations fuel California's growth

Hispanic, Asian populations fuel California's growth

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
3/8/2011

LOS ANGELES — California's growth in the past decade was fueled by big increases in Hispanic and Asian populations, although Hispanic growth didn't keep up the pace of the 1990s, data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The Hispanic population, which can be of any race, increased by more than 3 million people, up 27.8%, in the 2010 Census. That was slower growth than the 45.1% in the 2000 Census. Hispanics make up 37.6% of California's population, up from 32.4% a decade earlier.

The state's Asian population rose 30.9%, an increase of 1.1 million people, the Census Bureau said.

Those increases were offset by declines in the non-Hispanic white population and the African-American population.

The state's white population declined 5.4% from 2000 to 2010, the Census said, and black population declined 0.8%.

California's population, 37.3 million, is up 10%, the slowest growth ever recorded in the nation's largest state. The Census Bureau released the overall figure in December, and Tuesday's report provided details on city and county populations as well as ethnicity and race.

The figures showed that California's child population is increasingly Hispanic, too. Non-Hispanic white child population dropped 21%, and the black child population dropped nearly 20%, said Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire.

Hans Johnson, demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California, said the figures reflect the reality already seen in California's public schools, where a majority of students are Latino.

"It's quite clear that the future of California depends on the successful integration of immigrants and their children into our economy and society," he said.

Non-Hispanic whites now are 40.1 % of the state's population, down from almost 46.7% in 2000. Non-Hispanic African Americans are 5.8% of the state total, down from 6.4%. Asians now make up 12.8% of the state population, up from 10.8%.

"California is becoming a more heavily Latino state," says Tom Saenz, president of MALDEF, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "Well above one-third of the state is now Latino ... Latinos are growing in every state and region of the country."

That means rising voting strength for Hispanics, who in the last election were 22% of voters, Saenz said. Polling showed they voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, who swept statewide offices last November despite a Republican trend elsewhere in the nation.

The population total means California does not gain a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1930. Saenz said he expects the population change to produce more Hispanic representation in Congress after district maps are redrawn to reflect the Census findings,

California continued to see rapid expansion of inland areas. Coastal communities saw much slower rates of growth.

Although hit hard by unemployment and home foreclosures, the inland Southern California counties of Riverside and San Bernardino grew by 41.7% and 19.1% respectively.

Los Angeles grew 2.6%, to 3,792,621. Among the state's next four biggest cities, San Diego grew 6.9%, San Jose 5.7%, and San Francisco 3.7%. The Central Valley city of Fresno, California's fifth-biggest city, grew 15.7%.

"This is the first time, really ... that California hasn't grown substantially faster than the nation and received additional members of Congress," said Hans Johnson, the demographer. "So it is a kind of sea change for California."

The inland increases came despite the devastating impact of the housing collapse and decline in construction jobs. The area remained attractive primarily because of lower housing costs and, until the recession, job opportunities.

"For the last four decades, inland areas of the state have been growing at a faster rate of growth than coastal areas," Hans Johnson said. "That is certainly a reflection of the lower cost of housing and the building out of coastal regions."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/cen ... 9_ST_N.htm

California No Longer `Magnet' as Rate of Population Growth Slows in Census

By Christopher Palmeri - Mar 8, 2011 2:52 PM PT

California saw higher growth in its inland cities and counties than on the coast and found double- digit increases in its Asian and Hispanic populations over the past decade, according to 2010 Census data released today.

In Los Angeles, the state’s largest city, the population climbed 2.6 percent to 3.8 million since 2000. In San Diego, the population rose 6.9 percent to 1.3 million. San Jose saw an increase of 5.7 percent to 945,942 and San Francisco’s population rose 3.7 percent to 805,235, during the same period, census data showed.

Fresno, the state’s fifth-largest city, had a population increase of 15.7 percent to 494,665 since 2000. The largest city in California’s Central Valley, it is located approximately 155 miles (250 kilometers) inland from Monterey.

Coastal areas tended to be “hostile to businessâ€

The whites are leaving In droves because of Illegal Immigration. It Is a full scale Invasion of people that refuse to assimilate or speak the ENGLISH LANGUAGE The central San Joaquin Valley has turned Into a suburb of Mexico with gangs,graffiti,signs Is spanish,and 99cent stores popping up everywhere. It Is beginning to look like a third world garbage dump just like TJ Mexico

California sees slowest growth since Depression

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
Updated 13m ago |

LOS ANGELES — The state that spurred a migration from the rest of the country and the world for 150 years experienced its slowest growth since the Great Depression this past decade, new 2010 Census data show.

Even so, California's demographic makeup showed dramatic changes since 2000 as the Hispanic and Asian populations rose and the white share of the state count fell to two in five residents.

The black population declined just under 1%, its first drop ever in the state.

Gains by Hispanics did not keep pace with the 1990s rate: up 28% vs. 43%. Still, Hispanics are 38% of the state's population. The Asian population rose 31% to 4.8 million — 13% of the state. Non-Hispanic whites declined 5.4%.

CALIFORNIA: Local county, city data
CENSUS NUMBERS: Interactive map shows your state, county, locality

The next generation augurs even bigger ethnic and racial changes. California's child population is increasingly Hispanic. The numbers of non-Hispanic black and white children shrank by one-fifth, says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire.

The figures reflect a reality already seen in California's public schools, where a majority of students are Hispanic, says Hans Johnson, demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California.

"The future of California depends on the successful integration of immigrants and their children into our economy and society," he says.

Hispanics' gains mean rising voting strength, says Tom Saenz, president of MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Polling showed that in the last election, Hispanics were 22% of the electorate, and they voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, who swept statewide offices last November despite a Republican trend elsewhere.

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Overall, California's population grew 10% to 37.3 million — just above the national rate of 9.7% and below the 1990s pace of 13.8%.

The population total means California does not gain a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1930. Saenz says he expects the population change to produce more Hispanic representation in Congress after district maps are redrawn to reflect the Census findings.

The slowdown "is something you never would've thought of for most of the post-World War II period," says demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution.

Rapid expansion of inland areas continued as coastal communities grew much more slowly. Although hit hard by unemployment and home foreclosures, inland Riverside and San Bernardino counties grew 42% and 19% respectively.

Los Angeles grew 3%, to 3,792,621. Among the state's next four biggest cities, San Diego grew 7%, San Jose 6% and San Francisco 4%.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/cen ... 9_ST_N.htm