Boomburbs: The Rise of America's Accidental Cities

Chapter 3: Who Lives in the Boomburbs?

As much of the research based on the 2000 census reveals, the 1990s witnessed a radical departure from standard demographic trends. Hispanics passed African Americans as the nation’s largest racial or ethnic group, while the Asian American population strengthened its presence by more than 50 percent.1 The proportion of foreign-born persons reached 11.1 percent, the highest level since 1930. This surge of immigration is changing how communities plan and develop, especially since slightly more than half of all of immigrants who arrived in metropolitan areas in the 1990s chose to live outside central cities. The country’s median age is 35.3 years—the oldest it has ever been. Aging baby boomers are becoming empty nesters and fueling the development of “active adult” communities. Suburbs now contain more nonfamily households (largely young singles and elderly people living alone) than married couples with children.2 In 2000 less than 25 percent of all households nationwide were nuclear families. This is a significant change from 1970, when the figure stood at around 40 percent. The nuclear family is a shrinking phenomenon, as acceptance of nontraditional approaches to marriage, divorce, childbearing, and cohabitation grows. Overall, the share of racial and ethnic minorities living in the suburbs increased substantially in the 1990s—moving from less than one-fifth to more than one-quarter of all suburbanites. This trend is most evident in metropolitan areas that had a strong immigrant base. A study by the demographer William Frey finds that the growth of racial and ethnic 3 Who Lives in the Boomburbs? 55 groups fueled the 1990s population growth.3 According to this study, in the largest 102 metropolitan areas, more than half of the Asian population and nearly half of the Hispanic population lived in the suburbs. Blacks showed the greatest increase in suburban living—in 1990 less than 33 percent of blacks lived in the suburbs studied; in 2000, almost 40 percent did. During the past ten years suburban growth outpaced city growth irrespective of whether a city’s population was falling, staying stable, or rising .4 Minorities have driven most of this growth, and this is reflected in the boomburbs. Most but not all are ethnically and racially diverse. The majority of boomburbs have Hispanic populations above the national average, and Hispanics make up over half the population in six boomburbs and five baby boomburbs. Over three-quarters of boomburbs have Asian populations above the national average, and 85 percent of boomburbs had foreign-born populations above the national average of 11 percent. Not only are boomburbs ethnically diverse, they also contain different strata of income. While most boomburbs are affluent, few are exclusive. Boomburb percentages, compared to the top fifty metropolitan areas, rank higher in categories such as race, foreign-born population, and median income (table 3-1). However, the percentages of families in poverty, postgraduate education, home ownership, and white non-Hispanic populations are lower. This chapter examines the demographics within boomburbs (using primarily census data); discusses their ethnic, educational, and economic diversities; and identifies two subcategories that emerge from the data: “new Brooklyns” and “cosmoburbs.” Race and Immigration Some boomburbs defy the suburban stereotype put forth over the last four decades by cultural critics. They have grown not because of white flight but because of immigration, influxes of retirees, and business expansion. These suburbs have developed their own economies and diverse populations. Figures 3-1 and 3-2 illustrate the decrease in non-Hispanic white populations in boomburbs and baby boomburbs since 1980. Although baby boomburbs started off and remain more white, Hispanic inmigration has grown as a greater share of their population over the last twenty years. Boomburbs are surprisingly diverse in their Hispanic and Asian populations . For example, forty-five of the fifty-four boomburbs have Hispanic populations larger than the national percentage, which is about 12 percent. Five boomburbs are over 50 percent Hispanic. Hialeah, Florida, with 56 WHO LIVES IN THE BOOMBURBS? 90 percent Hispanic population, tops the list; the other nine of the top ten are in California: —Hialeah, Florida: 90 percent Hispanic —Santa Ana, California: 76 percent Hispanic —Oxnard, California: 66 percent Hispanic —Ontario, California: 60 percent Hispanic —Fontana, California: 58 percent Hispanic —Chula Vista, California: 50 percent Hispanic —San Bernardino, California: 48 percent Hispanic —Anaheim, California: 47 percent Hispanic —Escondido, California: 39 percent Hispanic —Moreno Valley, California: 38 percent Hispanic Similarly, forty-two of...