BY STUDENT
Why are Latinos choosing to live in the suburbs over the city? When studying or talking about the migration of Latinos to the United States we mainly talk about how Latinos have moved to cities and “Latinized” cities. The Latino population in the United States continues to increase exponentially for multiple reasons. The struggle for space, gentrification of U.S cities and the increase in Latino population, power and wealth are key factors in the Latinization of suburbs. In step 2 of the Young Lords 13 point program they state “Our Latin Brothers and Sisters, inside and outside the united states, are oppressed by amerikkkan business. The Chicano people built the Southwest, and we support their right to control their lives and their land”. The Young Lords are emphasizing the want for self autonomy and to not be oppressed by capitalism. They want to be free and build and prosper as a Latino community. In this blog I'll mainly be focusing on the Latinization of suburbs and how and why it has happened.
The United States has been a country with the reputation of new starts, better lives and the “Amrican Dream”; with this kind of reputation it has attracted many Latino immigrants coming to the United States to escape poverty and violence. Throughout the 20th century Latinos were discriminated against and had to fight for their rights and freedom in the United States. The Young Lords and Chicano Park are examples of Latinos making their presence known in the United States. The increase of Latino’s living in the United States slowly leads to Latino’s gaining power and wealth. During the 20th century most Latinos typically lived in ghettos or in poor areas of US cities; but the factors of Latinos being priced out is a huge reason why many Latinos live in suburban areas now. Gentrification is one of the biggest reasons why Latinos are moving out of U.S cities, A study of Latino population shift states that “Latinos are living farther from transport hubs and amenities, where housing is more affordable. Secondly, a large number of Latinos are migrating into new areas where jobs are available and rents are more affordable”. Gentrification is leading to less jobs and more expensive housing in cities which leads to Latinos looking for jobs and affordable housing wherever they can find one, which normally is in the suburbs.
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| https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html |
The Struggle for space and Gentrification are two huge factors in the latinization of U.S suburb; many Latinos move to suburbs that are in the metropolitan area of a city such as the surrounding areas of Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Chicago and Houston. All of these areas have at least two million Latinos living in its metropolitan area. Some examples of Latinization of suburbs are In Chicago “from 2000 to 2004, the number of Latinos in the suburbs increased by a third, to 862,000”. Many areas surrounding New York City like Union City, Paterson, Spring Valley, and Yonkers have big Latino population. The big influx of Latinos to suburbs has some positives and some negatives; a study from Notre Dame talking about the Latinization of Chicago suburbs states “On one hand, Latino-owned businesses have helped revitalize broken business strips in towns such as Waukegan, Cicero and Melrose Park. And Latino homeowners account for nearly half of a recent surge of 89,000 suburban house sales since 2000, according to the study. On the other hand, communities unprepared for the rapid growth in low-income Latino immigrants may face problems such as overcrowded housing, stretched school resources, insufficient health care and challenges in getting people to jobs”. Gentrification, struggle for space and the increase in Latino wealth and population are the main reasons for the Latinization of U.S suburbs. One question about suburbs that is being brought up is the debate whether suburbs are staying suburban like or becoming more urban because of the increase in minority population. In my opinion, only a select few suburbs will become more city like but they will never reach global city status. The Latinization of U.S suburbs in 2019 is just the beginning of Latinos in suburbs; with gentrification continuing and the Latino population rising exponentially the Latinization of suburbs will continue to grow.
Olivo, Antonio, and Oscar Avila. “Latinos Choosing Suburbs over City.” Notre Dame News, 31 Oct. 2005, https://news.nd.edu/news/latinos-choosing-suburbs-over-city/.
“Mapping Segregation.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 July 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html.
13 Point Program and Platform of the Young Lords Party, http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/Young_Lords_platform.html.
Ramirez, Amelie. “Research: Latino Rural Migration Led to Housing, Transportation Inequities.” Salud America, 14 May 2019, https://salud-america.org/research-latino-rural-migration-led-to-housing-transportation-inequities/.
I find it very interesting that it is being said that Latinos are moving into Suburban areas. This is interesting to me because the usual narrative is that families are likely to move to the city in environments with high poverty because they are often more affordable. In history, we have seen that wealthy whites were the ones who moved to suburban areas especially during the White Flight. It is also ironic that many people in America do not value Latinos until they are adding to the economy in some way. Whether it is through their own businesses or working for others, it seems like the Latinx community is invisible unless their dollar is being used for the government's agenda. As we've seen in today's film from class, a lot of local suburban homeowners want to push out Latinos from the neighborhood until they see the value of their home decrease, their children playing alone and their businesses plummeting.
ReplyDeleteThis changes the narrative of what people are saying about where Latinx populations are living and growing. My concern is the cluster of orange dots in specific areas. Can this high concentration of Latinx in one area speak to the barriozing of suburban areas? Similar to what they do in boroughs like Brooklyn or the Bronx where we see African Americans and Latinx pushed into spaces where their only neighbors are each other. Being able to own houses and the ability to move to outer parts of the city is amazing, but Will these communities that are not used to seeing brown faces and traditions embrace the diversity and benefits that Latinx people bring or will they react like many did in the town of Manassas? How are they reacting to the changes now?
ReplyDeleteLatinos moving into suburban areas is not necessarily a new trend but it has new implications which lead to an advancement in personal and cultural wealth to an extent. Americans and latinos alike are trying to expand their network into suburbia so they can achieve the american dream and the american census illustrates the type of movement and advancement put into place. These changes and advancement could have trickle down effects but by the looks of things we are just going to have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, in my opinion Gentrification in our communities have started the feel of losing out sense of "Home" and is something that is challenging our culture.
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