Upstate New York Asian population swells, according to U.S. Census Bureau
One thing Hui Wang doesn't miss from the San Francisco Bay Area is the two hour round-trip commute.
Broome County's unclogged roadways afford her precious more free time to pursue hobbies and activities that were out of the question after an exhausting commute.
"It's like a gift for me," said the 30-year-old, who is showing the final phases of her first pregnancy. "I can spend more time cooking, I can spend more time hiking, rather than spending two hours a day on the road."
Wang and her husband, Miao Hu, 32, moved to Vestal last summer after working a three-year stint with Hewlett Packard Labs. He took a position as an assistant professor of computer and electrical engineering at the Watson School of Engineering at Binghamton University.
They are part of the burgeoning Broome County Asian contingent, a segment of the population that has grown by 26 percent over the past seven years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the largest percentage increase of any ethnicity in the county.
Broome County isn't unique, however. Across upstate New York Asian population is swelling — up 46 percent in Erie and Albany counties, 31 percent in Onondaga County. (Essentially Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse)
Upstate New York’s population clearly is becoming more diversified, according to the census estimates for 2017, which were released Thursday morning.
Despite strong increases in the Asian and black populations in many Upstate counties between 2010 and 2017, total population still plunged in many counties because of a decline in the white population.
Consider:
• Broome County lost the largest number of people of any county in New York State —Upstate or downstate. The county’s total population was down 7,050, or 4 percent. Chemung lost the sixth-largest number of people, 3,284, or 4 percent.
• Tompkins County, however, was a growth star in upstate New York. It added 3,208 people, a 3 percent gain.
•
Both Tompkins and Broome saw strong growth in their Asian populations. Tompkins ranked sixth in Upstate in Asian growth (measured by number of people gained), with an increase of 2,953, or 33 percent, for a total Asian population of 11,827. Broome was ninth in Upstate, with a 1,852 gain, or 26 percent, and a total of 9,040.
In all cases in the analysis, one race alone statistics were used rather than a race in combination with another or others.
In the Utica area, Oneida County, Asian population was up a stunning 53 percent from 2010 to 2017. It is only surpassed by Saratoga County, where the number of Asians grew by a stunning 70 percent, to an increase of 2,783 to total 6,781.
Monroe County's 4,218 increase in Asian ethnics represented a 17 percent increase to 29.053, accounting for 4 percent of the population.
Census estimates did not specify countries of origin for the new residents.
"It's interesting on its face, but the larger impact is difficult to ascertain," said Steven E. Alvarado, an Cornell University assistant professor in sociology who specializes in demographic trends.
Since the Census Bureau releases only generalized estimates on a yearly basis, it's difficult to assess whether the numbers are due to a sizable refugee resettlement program, or an influx of Asian students attending the respected universities that dot upstate New York.
"I take these figures with a grain of salt," Alvarado said, adding that it's to early to determine of the trend will "have a large effect on the economic and social fabric of the community."
In Tompkins County, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College, Asians account for 11 percent of the county's total population, based on census estimates, the highest percentage of any upstate county. (Same in terms of metro area in the state, if I'm not mistaken)
“It’s often transient,” said Jenny Wang, a Lansing resident who has lived in Tompkins County since 1969. “They are often grad students or undergraduates. I’m not aware of the permanent Asian population.” (Asian students make up about 13% of the Ithaca City SD)
Wang, who is an owner of the restaurant Moosewood in Ithaca, said her parents are from China. They met in Taiwan, where she was later born.
“It doesn’t make me more uncomfortable for sure,” Wang said about the growing Asian population before contrasting with the county’s demographics from past decades. “I’m used to growing up in a white community. I don’t know how much I have in common with the new arrivals.”
Alvarado is unwilling to say just yet that the newly released census numbers indicate a change in immigration patterns for Asians, who land first in larger urban centers such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Asian Market owner Fangrong Lin, 57, moved to Binghamton seven years ago from New York City. Though the swelling ranks of the local Asian community has yet to translate into a significant rise in business volume, he has noticed more young Asians in the community in recent years.
During his nearly year-long residence in the Binghamton region, Hu, the new professor at Binghamton University, has learned to adapt to a more relaxed lifestyle than he had become accustomed in Silicon Valley.
"It's really a nice place to live," said Hu, while wearing a T-shirt reading "Cupertino, California," the heart of Silicon Valley. "It's really less stressful."
The Census Bureau is required by federal mandate to produce population estimates in the years between the full census every 10 years. Estimates are used for allocating federal funds and other program planning.
Unlike the decennial census, which strives to reach and account for every citizen in the nation, the estimates are based on administrative records, such as official tallies of births and deaths. When calculating change from 2010, an estimates base statistic was used rather than the actual decennial number. The two population measures don’t vary by much.
As much as Hui Wang loves her transition to Binghamton every time she and her husband hit the road, there's one element of New York life she still has to get used to.
"Winter is a little longer than I expected," she said. "And sometimes it gets very hot here."
Source:
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/...ion/714128002/
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