Latinos Finding New Home in Suburbs, Study Shows

By PETER Y. HONG

July 31, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The rapid growth of the nation’s Latino population is causing the most change in suburbs far away from the traditional immigrant gateways of Southern California, Texas, New York and Miami, a new study of census data indicates.

The Los Angeles area continues to receive the largest number of Latino immigrants in the country. But the growth rate of the Latino population here now lags that of many other cities. In fact, the growth rate for the region’s Latino population was lower in the 1990s than in the 1980s, according to the study.

The study documents the way Latino immigration has followed a pattern set by earlier immigrant groups: concentrating first in a core of gateway cities, then spreading through the nation and moving from cities to suburbs.

At the same time, many Latino immigrants are moving directly into burgeoning suburbs where plentiful jobs and housing lure migrants of all backgrounds.

In big cities with traditionally large Latino populations, Latino immigrants accounted for 79% of the overall population rise.

Because Latino immigrants drive much of big-city population growth, the study reported that relatively slower Latino growth rates “in no way means the Latino population will stabilize in those cities.”

Rather, cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami will likely see “a continued influx of new arrivals, and a simultaneous outflow of Latinos leaving in search of better jobs, housing and quality of life in other destinations,” the study says.

Many of the Latinos leaving those cities are heading for suburbs. Growth in suburban Latino populations is occurring in areas as widespread as Little Rock, Ark., Raleigh, N.C., and Las Vegas, according to the study released today in Washington by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Nationwide, 54% of Latinos now live in suburbs, deepening a trend away from traditional urban centers that began in the 1980s.

“Latino population growth had been thought of as a regional, urban trend. Now we see it is national and suburban,” said Roberto Suro, director of the center and the study’s primary author.

Smaller metropolitan areas, many in the Southeast, saw the most striking Latino growth.

The Latino population in Raleigh, for example, multiplied nearly 12 times from 1980 to 2000. The Latino population grew roughly tenfold during that period in Atlanta and the North Carolina cities of Greensboro and Charlotte.

“In the next 20 years, that’s where the impact’s going to be felt,” Suro said. “It’s a dramatic change, and those places will be coming to terms with a tremendous impact on things like schools and housing.”

The changes are already affecting public life in the South, said Jerry Gonzalez, a legislative policy analyst for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Atlanta.

He noted that two Latinos are running unopposed this summer for seats in the Georgia House of Representatives. Latino candidates also are running for the state Senate and secretary of state, Gonzalez said.

Last year, Georgia began to include Hispanics and Asian Americans when recording voter registration statistics by race.

A conflict over Latino jury representation in Hall County, an Atlanta suburb, may signal the kind of debates that may emerge along with booming Latino populations.

After finding that Latinos make up 17% of the county’s adult population but fewer than 3% of the jury pool, a judge ordered the county’s jury commissioners to try to increase the number of Latinos on juries. The decision is being examined by the Georgia Supreme Court.

An important characteristic of the suburban areas dubbed “new Latino destinations” in the Pew study is that the explosive Latino growth in those areas was part of an overall jump in population. In those areas, Latino newcomers comprised only a small portion of the total number of new residents.

Perhaps partly because of that fact, there have been few conflicts or overtly hostile acts against Latino immigrants in those areas.

Gonzalez cited attempts by white supremacist groups to hold anti-Latino rallies.

“Outside-of-the-state groups try to hold them, but the local communities ignore them,” he said. “Communities overall are very receptive. People know that metro Atlanta and Georgia would not have seen its economic growth without immigrants.”

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Latinos Join Suburban Ranks

Following a pattern of earlier immigrant groups, Latinos are increasingly moving from gateway cities to bedroom community suburbs, according to U.S. Census data.

Largest Latino populations, 2000*

% of total Growth from Number population 1980-2000

Los Angeles 4,242,213 45 105%

New York 2,339,836 25 60%

Chicago 1,416,584 17 143%

Miami 1,291,737 57 123%

Houston 1,248,586 30 211%

Riverside- San Bernardino 1,228,962 38 324%

Orange County 875,579 31 206%

Phoenix 817,012 25 261%

San Antonio 816,037 51 67%

Dallas 810,499 23 324%