Suburbs in the News: Brookings Demographer William H. Frey on the “Great Suburban Demographic Shift”

February 12, 2011 by

We’ve written before about the “great debate” regarding whether the great American love affair with the suburbs is ending: whether the historic migration pattern of city-to-suburb has started to reverse (no), whether young people are prefer to live in the city over the suburbs (duh!), and whether it’s environmentally ethical to raise kids in the city (it depends).  A major part of this argument comes from the Brookings Institute, which has analyzed census data to argue that the nature of the suburbs is changing.

With that in mind, here’s a link to an interview with Brookings demographer William H. Frey, who talks about his findings and what he thinks of the new suburbia.  Some of the key points:

  • The demographics of the suburbs are changing: less white, more hispanic and African-American.
  • Accordingly, the racial and ethnic makeup of the suburbs is becoming more like society as a whole.
  • Many of the “original” suburbanites are now seniors, making way for much of this demographic change.
  • With the demographic evolving, we might see systematic changes in the character and makeup of the suburbs.

Lots of interesting stuff. Take a look.

Filed Under: News, Suburbs versus Cities Tagged With: ,

Who’s Moving to the Suburbs? More Immigrants, That’s Who!

January 7, 2011 by

The New York Times reported recently on Census Bureau data that really challenges some long-held belief about who lives in and moves to the suburbs:

The country’s biggest population gains were in suburban areas. But, in a departure from past decades when whites led the rise, now it is because of minorities. More than a third of all 13.3 million new suburbanites were Hispanic, compared with 2.5 million blacks and 2 million Asians. In all, whites accounted for a fifth of suburban growth.

The information comes from the American Community Survey, which gathers data from about 10% of Americans between 2005 and 2009.  As the Legally Sociable blog pointed out, “the recent trend runs counter to the typical American immigrant experience one learns about in history class where immigrants settled first in big cities…then moved out to the suburbs in subsequent generations.”

If indeed we’re seeing a demographic shift like that in the suburbs, with increasing numbers of immigrants, that could be something that starts to soften the stark differences between the urban and suburban experience. If we’re really looking at a future where the suburbs are less “lily-white” and more diverse and ethnic, we might start to see the suburban experience bring more of both the advantages and the challenges of a vibrant and growing immigrant culture.

For example, at the risk of trivializing what is a very real and important demographic issue, maybe I’ll be able to get a decent bowl of soup or something out here.

Filed Under: News, Suburbs versus Cities, Who's Moving to the Suburbs? Tagged With: , ,