Population shifts could boost Calif, NY in census

Associated Press
December 9, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - An analysis released today by the Brookings Institution think tank finds immigration is buoying many of the nation's larger cities.

Texas in the last decade has seen population gains due to steady immigration, as well as diverse economies in big cities and an increase in residents from Louisiana after 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

The figures highlight the stakes involved in the 2010 Census, which is used to apportion U.S. House seats and distribute federal aid.

Texas previously stood to gain four House seats and Arizona two seats, based on earlier population trends of Sunbelt growth during the housing boom.

But with U.S. mobility now at a 60-year low, Texas may add just three seats and Arizona one.

William H. Frey, who wrote the Brookings report, predicts the Sunbelt will continue to draw new residents once the economy improves. He thinks that growth won't return to the exponential rates of earlier in the decade. He says metro areas with the largest promise for growth will have diversified economies -- such as Austin.

On the Net:

Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov

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