How Hispanics factored in.... (Tionesta: restaurant, population, map)

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by greg42

Whew, maybe that would be a better explanation.

It's all about the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary. The black population in Forest County increased by a significant margin too. As politically incorrect as it is to say, blacks and Hispanics are incarcerated at a higher rate than whites and Asians, so if you put a prison in a lily-white, thinly-populated area, the percent growth in the black and Hispanic populations is going to be large due to the lack of both population and racial and ethnic diversity.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Forest County is where the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary is located.

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Forest county has experienced huge population growth; apparently it is mostly vacation homes. Maybe there were a lot of construction and service jobs that attracted hispanic immigrants?

I doubt it was construction and service jobs. We have those here but Pittsburgh's hispanic population isn't growing at a fast rate.

I think the prison is a better explanation. It's common for families to move to an area close to where a loved one is in prison. Strange, but true.

[BrianTH]

I think the lack of the right sort of economic opportunities may be part of it, but also international immigrants in particular tend to go where there are already a lot of other immigrants from the same area.

Our Hispanic population is growing and I expect that to continue, but I think it will end up being mostly second-generation and beyond Hispanics in the future.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I think the prison is a better explanation. It's common for families to move to an area close to where a loved one is in prison. Strange, but true.

Maybe that's it. I still think it's odd for Pew to note that on their map though.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by greg42

Maybe that's it. I still think it's odd for Pew to note that on their map though.

Why? The reason doesn't matter to Pew. Pew is only looking at statistics and identifying counties with fast growing hispanic populations.

This is why: http://pewhispanic.org/states/?countyid=42053 The hispanic population increased 417% since 2000.

[bradjl2009]

The minority population grew significantly because of the state prison in Forest County. If you went up there, you will probably see hardly any Hispanics or Blacks walking around because they are probably in the jail and really from Southern PA.

[ferrarisnowday]

Did the state prison open up since 2000? Or did it just gain inmates?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Did the state prison open up since 2000? Or did it just gain inmates?

I think it was opened in 2003.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Why? The reason doesn't matter to Pew. Pew is only looking at statistics and identifying counties with fast growing hispanic populations.

This is why: Forest County, Pennsylvania Data - Pew Hispanic Center The hispanic population increased 417% since 2000.

Eh, I just think the 417% is not so impressive when you see that it's an increase from 60 to 310, you know? To put a target on that map because of that is, I think, silly from a true "fastest growing Hispanic population" perspective. Taken as raw numbers like that and plunked on the map, they don't mean much. I mean, maybe they're all state pens!

I don't think that represents anything significant in terms of Hispanic migration, that's what I'm saying. I would think such outliers would be worth noting differently.

[BrianTH]

It has gotten very easy to generate maps like that from a database without really thinking about what you are doing in any detail.

That isn't an excuse per se, but I do think informed consumers of such documents need to be aware that humans aren't necessarily considering in advance many of the facts being presented.