The Bronx gained more new residents than the other four boroughs over the last decade, and had the second highest gain in the state, according to recently released data from the 2010 United States Census.
The numbers, released by the Census Bureau on March 24, show that the Bronx gained 52,458 people since the last count in 2000, a growth rate of 3.9 percent, which was only surpassed in the city by the borough of Staten Island.
A look at the new figures reflect similar trends taking place in other large urban areas, according to William Bosworth, a professor at Lehman College who studies demographics and Census data.
“Generally, just because an area is minority doesn’t mean it’s going to lose population,” he said. “On the contrary — the areas that are losing population are mainly middle class, white areas.”
Indeed, the Bronx’s population boost is due to a spike in its number of Hispanic residents, who now account for 53.5 percent of the borough. Meanwhile, the number of whites and non-Hispanic black residents in the borough has decreased sharply since 2000 — the white population is down 22 percent — and now makes up 10.9 and 30.1 percent of the population, respectively.
The Bronx neighborhoods that saw their populations grow the most over the last 10 years are Morrisania, Melrose and Mott Haven, according to Census data compiled on the Department of City Planning’s website.
Local neighborhoods Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham North and University Heights saw their populations decrease just slightly since 2000, by a few hundred residents.
But while the population of the Bronx and the city overall have both increased, local legislators and Mayor Michael Bloomberg say the Census count comes up short.
There’s a lot at stake, as the amount of federal funding that states and cities receive depends on population numbers drawn from the Census.
“We have schools so overcrowded, they are bursting at the seams. New Yorkers can’t find affordable housing because the demand is huge and our streets are congested with pedestrians and automobiles,” said Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera, in a press release. “It is beyond ridiculous that based on the figures and the reality of life in the city that we have to accept Census numbers that are obviously and critically wrong.”
Bloomberg and other elected officials are calling on the Census Bureau to recount their numbers, especially in parts of Brooklyn and Queens that showed especially low numbers.
“I am certain that there was a slight undercount in the Bronx, as there are still many undocumented who are fearful of visits by government officials,” said Congressman Jose Serrano, whose district represents Fordham and University Heights as well as most of the south Bronx. “That said, the increase in our Bronx community by more than 50,000 people shows that our borough is on the rise and is a desirable place to live and do business.”
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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Interesting article. What I found interesting is that there was a decline of -42,000 blacks in the Bronx (they continue to migrate back to the south to get more bang for their buck), so the Bronx is becoming LESS BLACK and more Hispanic. I suspect this trend will continue going forward. My concern is that out of the 50,000 new Bronxites, almost 40,000 were Hispanic and the vast majority of them moved into the 16th district, which is the poorest congressional district in not only NYC, but the country!
I suspect the primary driver for the population are poor Dominicans, Mexicans, etc who are being displaced due to higher rents in Washington Heights, Inwood and other communities across the city. Is that really an improvement to the Bronx to increase the poor demographic when the Bronx has more than enough low income people as is?
What the Bronx needs to break its stigma is to have middle class folks (individuals earning 50K – 90K a year) migrate to the Bronx to dilute or water-down the overwhelming presence of low income people that have a strong-hold on the Bronx and thus contribute to the overall STIGMA and GHETTONESS. I don’t care who gets offended by this but the bottom line is…the Bronx especially Norwood NEEDS some form of GENTRIFICATION to occur to change and balance the demographics. All the white people in Norwood practically disappeared!!!
Harlem has been slowly gentrifying and as a result the gentrifying areas of Harlem have become much cleaner, safer and much more desirable. The same concept needs to be applied to the Bronx and I guarantee the Bronx will become a much more desirable place to live.
Now if Bronx or should I say Norwood Landlords would just stop accepting Section 8 tenants due to their improper, unruly conduct and undesirability, then we can fast track the process and get quicker results.
First, Section 8 needs to stop over paying Bronx Landlords in rent. They pay $200 -$300 more a month in rent than what a regular middle class working person is willing to pay. So the working middle class get priced out from Section 8 people. Now, Bronx Landlords who don’t care about the neighborhood, only about their bottom line, are quick to rent to a Section 8 tenant over a regular tenant because they pay more. But what people don’t understand is that regular working, middle class folks don’t want to live around low class ghetto Section 8 tenants. As a result a trend is created which can degrade a neighborhood in no time.