Immigration and Racial Trends
Since the inception of cities, people have been attracted from the outside. Many of America’s most prominent cities boomed because of their attraction to immigrants, which was the main source of growth. These settlements, which often situated themselves for immigration, were cities that were ports of entry, interior cities, and small manufacturing centers (61).
Not An Immigrant Destination However, Boulder was not one of those cities. The map titled, "Percentage Change in Population by Municipality and County Unincorporated Area, 2000-2008" confirms that even recently Boulder is not experiencing portions of the regional growth with -2,4 to 0.2 percent population change for years 2000-2008. Moreover, Boulder appears to be a prime example of a WASP society; it is primarily white, Anglo-Saxon, and Christian/Protestant (61).
The city has a very minimal international migration. In the 2010 U.S Census, there is a foreign born population of only 9,996 people. Additionally, a mere 4,261 foreign residents have not gained American citizenship. The city’s internal migration is more substantial, with 91,107 born within the United States. For the 2010 population, 29,418 people were born within the state of Colorado, and 61,689 in a different state.
Comparably, in the 2000 U.S. Census it indicates some minor shifts in place of birth of the population in the past. There was a foreign population of 10,829 with the majority (8,181 people) non-citizens. These figures show that the foreign population in general has actually decreased. There are currently less foreign residents but over half of them have gained citizenship status.
Boulder Is Largely One Race The racial composition has remained largely the same. The vast majority was one race and white. The Asian population was 4 percent in 2000, which has increased to 4.7 percent in 2010. Conversely, the black population saw a decreased shift from 1.2 percent in 2000 to only 0.9 percent in 2010. There is even less Native Indian and Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander presence.
Decreasing Diversity The racial makeup of the city is homogenous with 88 percent identifying as white. The second most prominent race is Asian (the majority Chinese) with 4.7 percent. It is somewhat surprising that there is such a low presence of blacks, 0.9 percent. The map to the right shows the diversity of census tracts spatially. In Boulder, there are no census tracts where it is predominately non-white residents.
Boulder is dominantly Caucasian, with very little racial diversity. However, there is a presence of class diversity because there is a significant proportion of the population experiencing poverty. The data supports the notion that there wasn't a large occurrence of "white flight" to the suburbs not only because of the obstacles put in place to halt residential sprawl, but class diversity is more comfortable than racial diversity. This helps to explain why the wealthy have remained in the city, which could be attributed to Caucasian dominance in regards to the city's population and sense of likeness.
|
Boulder, Colorado Racial Shifts between 2000 and 2010. Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
|