White flight? Suburbs lose young whites to cities
 

White flight? Suburbs lose young whites to cities

WASHINGTON – White flight? In a reversal, America's suburbs are now more likely to be home to minorities, the poor and a rapidly growing older population as many younger, educated whites move to cities for jobs and shorter commutes.

An analysis of 2000-2008 census data by the Brookings Institution highlights the demographic "tipping points" seen in the past decade and the looming problems in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, which represent two-thirds of the U.S. population.

The findings could offer an important road map as political parties, including the tea party movement, seek to win support in suburban battlegrounds in the fall elections and beyond. In 2008, Barack Obama carried a substantial share of the suburbs, partly with the help of minorities and immigrants.

The analysis being released Sunday provides the freshest detail on the nation's growing race and age divide, which is now feeding tensions in Arizona over its new immigration law.

Ten states, led by Arizona, surpass the nation in a "cultural generation gap" in which the senior populations are disproportionately white and children are mostly minority.

This gap is pronounced in suburbs of fast-growing areas in the Southwest, including those in Florida, California, Nevada, and Texas.

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I haven't really noticed this trend in my area (many of our suburbs are growing at a faster rate than the principal cities). Interesting read, though.

I moved from suburban American and will NEVER move back!

I've lived in suburbs my entire life (minus 2 years). I didn't realize what I was missing until I got to college, though. Since I've graduated, I've been inching my way closer to "urban living."

It's more difficult in Texas, though, because of our "car culture." That, along with the size of the cities/metro areas is probably the reason that I've noticed a reverse trend.

It is called gentrification. It is both good and bad.

Hi to the Five! Me too!!

Yeah...Dallas is a great example...you just could never get rid of your car!
Exactly. We all know the good. The bad is that poor people get run out of their homes. I hope they get to have new developments that are up to code instead of living in some of the squalor I've seen in Baltimore.

I'm a city girl...too boring anywhere else!:D

How is it bad? Please explain, I'm not being a smart ass. I really don't see how how renovating and rebuilding-up parts of town that were lying vacant is a bad thing. I mean, if gangs don't even hang out there because something fell on one of them (urban myth, but who knows, they were unoccupied for years) then it is absolute blight. Nothing but an empty building. That's just plain sad. Why shouldn't they (the old buildings, I mean) be turned into cool new apartments or restaurants or cool office buildings or retail stores maybe on the ground level or maybe some dance clubs or something?? Just leaving it bombed out just leaves it bombed out.

And even if you don't live in a bigger city, it makes sense to at least have a town/urban center no matter how small/big it is near by so you can easily get to stuff/find other people in an emergency.

Hi to the Five! Me too!!

Yea, that's the area I live in. Both Dallas and Fort Worth are trying their hardest to revitalize the downtown/midtown/uptown areas and provide public transportation, but the midcities and (some) suburbs don't want to go along. As long as there's no way to connect the 2 major cities, I think people (that can afford it) will continue to rush to the suburbs.

Building up these areas = higher costs = out of reach for many "lower class" citizens = them getting driven out of their homes/areas

The cheaper housing developments will be further from the city center if the goal is gentrification.

A couple we're best friends with lives in downtown Dallas in a complex across from the hotel where Nobu is located. Last time we went to visit, there was so much more to do down there. The Dallas Opera and Symphony had recently opened as well as that cool new theater. We saw "South Pacific" on New Year's Day. The Opera is really modern and beautiful inside. They did a great job. If there was better public transportation, things would be more ideal, but that's the way of the South!

Thanks, knight_shadow. :)

And here's the layperson source for those who are unfamiliar with the generations-long issue of "gentrification" around the world and in America (and "white flight" and "tipping point," for that matter): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification

There are no whites in my neighborhood, but they always jog through it. I wonder where they come from?

But I'm talking about for areas that are completely uninhabited, other than the start up cost, how is it bad?

I'm thinking specifically of Tobacco Row in Richmond, Va that was a few city blocks of empty nothing just a few years ago and is now one of the best places to live in the area. Seriously. Best being very subjective, but still. They were abonded tobacco warehouses, no one lived there.