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I have mixed feelings about this article because it is not clear whether this is really good news or more bad news. On the one hand I am glad to see that the borough is growing, as negative population growth would be indisputable (in general) evidence that things are getting worse, not better. And with all the new affordable housing flooding into the Bronx, and particularly the Southern Bronx, we should expect more growth going forward, and easily be #1 in growth over the next decade.
That being said, my concern is that out of the 50,000 new Bronxites, almost 40,000 were Hispanic and the vast majority of those 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 and other communities across the city. Is that really an improvement or a positive for the borough? NO. That is just concentrating more poverty in an already very poor area.
However, we also know that there are substantial working/middle class housing going up in the 16th district, primarily in Mott Haven, Melrose, and Southern Morrisania, which is likely also a key population driver and bringing in higher income Hispanic residents/families.
What I did find interesting is that there was a decline of -42,000 blacks in the Bronx (they continue to migrate back to the south), so the borough is becoming less black and more Hispanic. I suspect this trend will continue going forward.
It's great the Bronx is increasing its raw population, I just want to be sure we are also diversifying the economic and social structure. Simply dumping an endless supply of ever poorer people into the Bronx is not anything to celebrate or helping improve the borough.
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