Immigration’s Regionalism - The 2010 Census

William Frey writes in the most recent issue of Urban Land that “the continued immigration of about 1 million people per year into the United States affects not only the populations, but also the race/ethnic compositions of all parts of America.” (The 2010 Census: How Is America Changing? – January/February 2011). The statement appears obvious, but the regionalism of the different immigrant and ethnic groups is less clear. Its likely to have a profound impact on future development and political outcomes and it must be considered and discussed in any development company with a national footprint. “The South’s share of the national black population continues to rise, from 54 percent in 1990 to 57% in 2009. The region accounted for about three-fourths of the nation’s total black population gains since 2000.” The West is growing specifically in the Hispanic sector, and “The three metro areas with the largest Asian populations – Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco – house 37 percent of U.S. Asians.” This doesn’t sound like the “Melting Pot” that most people refer to as the future of the US; in fact at some level it appears to be some form of self imposed segregation. It appears the only “Melting Pots” that appear from the statistical data discussed in this article are “The New York City and Los Angeles metropolitan areas” which “garnered over a fifth of all immigrants entering [the US] since 2000.”

Different cultures mean different preferences, traditions, desires, family formation, etc., that must be respected when you are investing and signing on debt to produce product for these groups. As real estate becomes more commoditized, and as the margins continue to shrink, even small firms like Milhaus are required to become national in scope. Therefore these demographic shifts and trends must be constantly monitored. These trends not only affect the physical product, but social and amenity programming, entitlement process and the response in the public petition process, as well as how you market, stage, and model for sale or lease. All these segments have significant nuances that these types of demographic studies make you think about the wide variances and necessary planning and thought that must go into planning these projects to make them successful.

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