Baby Boomers Leaving California

The San Jose Mercury reports:

California may be loosening its grip on two groups that helped define the Golden State during the 20th century: predominantly white baby boomers, who are now approaching retirement age, and Hispanics.

New U.S. Census Bureau data being released today shows the state's white population is shrinking - particularly in the Bay Area. From 2000 to 2006, the San Jose and San Francisco metropolitan areas saw their white population decline by more than 200,000 people, trailing only the New York City metropolitan area.

Meanwhile, Texas has replaced California as the leader in the nation's Hispanic growth surge. California is still adding Hispanics - but the growth of that population in Texas from 2006 to 2007 outstripped California's by more than 40,000.

What's happening with the white population is not classic "white flight," demographers say, but a departure of middle-income people for economic reasons.

"It's kind of an ongoing middle-class flight in an area that's very pricey," said Bill Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer who analyzed the census numbers. "I think the steady state for coastal California, especially the Bay Area, will be people leaving that can't afford to stay, given the housing prices and the cost of living."

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