Immigration and gentrification is changing the composition of New York and its suburbs in a trend that reverses long-standing patterns of white flight from the city replaced by immigrant infill.
The startling trends are reported in the American Community Survey, a new annual version of the federal Census Bureau's long-form questionnaire designed to capture the nation's demographic profile.
To be sure, foreign-born populations continue to increase in NYC, and the proportion of immigrants has reached nearly 37 percent, inching toward the record 40 percent registered early in the 20th century. Joseph J. Salvo, director of the population division of New York's Department of City Planning estimated that the number of foreign-born and their children "is easily in excess of 60 percent, maybe even two-thirds."
But whites are returning to Manhattan and Brooklyn, while the number of blacks in the city, primarily native-born, declined, probably for the first time since the Civil War.
The latest figures indicate, though, that many of those new arrivals may have chosen to go to the suburbs outside the city, suggesting that the melting pot was, in effect, overflowing. The total number of foreign born residents in the city, in fact, increased by only 60,000 over five years, or 2 percent.
"You have enhanced mobility among the foreign-born where they're picking up and going to other places quicker", Salvo indicated.
On the other hand, he said: "We may be reaching a point where the city's population gets to be so large you can’t keep adding. The pressure on housing and our neighborhoods is still on."
In New Jersey, the number of immigrants grew to 19.5 percent, the third-highest proportion of any state after California and New York.
Among children younger than 15, white residents who are not Hispanic have become a minority in the metropolitan area, an indication that within just a few years the New York region will become the first large metropolitan area outside the South or West where non-Hispanic whites are a minority.
This summer and fall, the Census Bureau will release results on income, poverty and housing from the 2005 survey.
FULL STORY: Immigrants Swell Numbers Near New York

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Cleveland to Boost Bike Safety With New Bike Lanes, School Programs
The program, using curriculum created by Cleveland Bikes, is part of a broader effort to improve safety along school routes.

Florida Home Insurers Disproportionately Dropping Low-Income Households
Non-renewal rates are highest in inland counties, not the coastal areas most immediately vulnerable to storms.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont