Hispanic Population Growth Bypasses Chicago and Goes Suburban

The Chicago Tribune reports:

As new immigrants bypass Chicago for suburban jobs and more affordable housing, the number of Hispanic residents in Will County has nearly doubled since 2000, according to new census estimates.

The southwest suburban county--one of the nation's fastest-growing--added about 10,000 Hispanic residents from July 2004 to July 2005, nearly as many as Cook County added, despite being far smaller than the nation's second most populous county.

The Hispanic influx accounted for more than a third of Will County's total growth during the one-year period.

"Chicago is too expensive," said Abraham Sanchez, store manager of a Hispanic-oriented marketin Joliet, where piñatas and soccer balls hung from the ceiling Thursday afternoon and a brisk business was being conducted in Spanish. "Joliet is one of the places where you can get a house for a nice, fair price."

The accelerating increase in Hispanics is part of a well-documented trend in many parts of the nation. The growth is fueled in part by the tendency of immigrants to follow friends and relatives to new communities, including Joliet.

Will County's increasing Hispanic population is part of a larger trend across the Chicago metropolitan area, where Hispanics account for virtually all of the population gains since 2000.

From April 2000 to July 2005, the estimates show, the seven-county area saw a net population increase--after births, deaths and migration--of 297,644. Hispanics accounted for 87 percent of the growth.

It appears the "great urban comeback" doesn't exist.