Urban areas drawing young whites

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Posted 32m ago |

The number of white children is growing in several large urban centers where the cost of living is high, a trend that runs counter to the decline in white youths in much of the USA.

And although the overall child population is declining in pricey cities such as San Francisco and New York's Manhattan, the areas are seeing an uptick in young whites. Other urban centers such as Brooklyn, N.Y., Denver, Arlington, Va., and Washington, D.C., also are seeing increases.

"It's a new magnet for white families with children — cities that are expensive to live in but are attracting people who want to be in an urban setting and are having children," says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution.

The makeup of the youth population provides a glimpse of the USA of the future.

Increasing diversity has dominated state-by-state results of the 2010 Census that are trickling out this month and next. Profiles of 11states out so far show the percentage and number of non-Hispanic whites under age 18 has fallen since 2000 while the proportion of Hispanics and Asians has risen. The decline in white children is stoked largely by Hispanic and Asian immigration and an aging white population.

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But the number of young whites is rising in nine states and the District of Columbia, according to Frey's analysis of Census surveys and estimates. He expects the 2010 Census to show an increase in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Georgia, North Carolina, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee and Hawaii.

Most states adding white youths are in the Sun Belt, a region that has enjoyed explosive growth by attracting retirees and young families hungry for a mild climate and affordable housing.

Research by CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders, found that many young people live near downtowns and stay on there after they have children "because they like the city lifestyle," says Carol Coletta, head of the group.

The overall national trend, however, is unmistakable, Frey says. "White kids are a shrinking part of the national population," he says. "That's the big change in the country."

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