Minorities grow, Phila. shrinks

The new face of Philadelphia has emerged from the results of the 2000 Census. According to the 2000 Census data released for Pennsylvania earlier this month, Philadelphia's growth in minorities comes amid an exodus of whites -- the number of whites declined nearly 20 percent since the last census in 1990. The bulk of the growth of the minority population has been due to an influx of Latinos and Asians. Overall, the city population shrunk by four percent in the last decade, less than half the decline predicted by earlier census estimates. Philadelphia's population now stands at 1,517,550. "We're pleased that the loss was much less than the Census Bureau had been projecting," said Gary Jastrzab of the City Planning Commission's housing and demographics unit. A "pretty significant" undercount in the 1990 Census among minorities and the homeless might have made the estimate of population loss unnecessarily high, according to Jastrzab. But Philadelphia is still feeling the pain of population loss, especially in the neighborhoods around Temple University. That section of North Philadelphia straddling Broad Street lost over 22,000 residents -- approximately 20 percent of its total. The neighborhood bounded by Broad Street and the Schuylkill River -- called South Philadelphia/West -- was also hard-hit, bidding farewell to over 6,000 of its residents. Closer to Penn, University City's population has stayed constant since 1990, adding only 142 residents to its population of 38,084. Center City continued its renaissance as well, with an overall gain of nearly 9 percent. The last time Philadelphia's population hovered near the 1.5 million mark was 1910. In 1950, the city's population peaked at just over two million. The countertrend to the decline of the past 10 years was a growth in minorities, which now comprise 55 percent of the city's population. In 1990, they had a 47 percent share. "I don't think that in terms of perception people have changed the way that they view the city now that there's demographic evidence that the majority is not white," said Public Policy and History Professor Theodore Hershberg, who also directs the Center for Greater Philadelphia. Philadelphia's Latino population -- which comprises a number of races -- dominated minority growth, having grown 45 percent since 1990. The bulk of that growth was centered in neighborhoods such as Juniata Park/Feltonville, whose Latino population grew 43 percent to over 14,000, and neighboring Lawncrest, which saw a 30 percent jump in Latino residents. The number of Asian residents increased by 55 percent, most notably in Center City and the Bella Vista neighborhood directly below South Street. "It's a common trend in large cities to see increases in Asian and Hispanic populations," Jastrzab said, noting that the Latino population has grown nearly equal to the African-American population nationally. In Philadelphia, however, African Americans are still the dominant minority, with a 43 percent share of the population, compared to eight percent for Latinos. But the Latino population is quickly gaining ground, as its growth rate dwarfs the four percent expansion of the city's African-American population. The 2000 census was the first census where respondents had the opportunity to mark "two or more races." However, in Philadelphia only two percent of the population chose this category. That number roughly corresponds with national averages. The effect of the ethnic changes on the city's political structure remains to be seen. "Philadelphia remains a black and white town politically," Hershberg said. "The growing Hispanic population argues that groups of voters will increasingly have muscles to flex -- we'll see how that plays out." Philadelphia's unexpectedly low population decline might alter previously-made plans to remap the political districts. Plans had included taking away three or four of the city's representatives in Harrisburg, and Pennsylvania learned last fall that it will lose two of its 21 Congressional seats. Philadelphia, with three Congressional seats, could be a target. "The fact that we didn't lose 100,000 people will have some hope for Philadelphia," Hersberg said. The very sensitive process of negotiating new political boundaries should be complete in six to nine months, according to Philadelphia Republican City Committee Chair Vito Canuso.