TREND OF FEWER WHITES EXPECTED IN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/13/2009 06:01:57 AM PST


The number of white San Bernardino County residents fell between 1990 and 2000 for the first time since World War II, a trend experts predict will continue in the soon-to-begin 2010 census.
Demographers and sociologists expect the local white population to continue to shrink as whites age and retire and as other ethnic groups, especially Latinos, move in. That could have wide-ranging impacts on the county's business climate, public services and politics.

"What we are as a society is definitely evolving," said Bill Gayk, head of the Riverside County Center for Demographic Research.

In 1950, 97 percent of San Bernardino County residents described themselves as white. By 2000, that percentage dipped to 59 percent.

The trend is evident in places like San Bernardino, where neighborhoods on the north and east side of town that were once largely white have grown much more diverse.

Other parts of the city, like the Westside, have long been a melting pot, said Steve Shaw, president of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society, who grew up in San Bernardino.

"The Westside was still kind of the same racial mix it is now - a big Latino area," said Shaw, 57. "And there were black areas also."

Countywide, the population changed dramatically.

As the county more than doubled in size between 1950 and 1970, the white population grew at nearly the same rate as the county as a whole. In 1970, about 94 percent of San Bernardino County residents described themselves as white.
In earlier decades, the census did not count Latinos as a group distinct from blacks or whites, meaning the numbers of white and black residents reported in censuses before 2000 likely include many Latinos.

But in the 1970s and '80s, white population growth fell well behind county growth overall. Between 1970 and 1990, the county again doubled its population - 107 percent population growth - while the white population grew by just 61 percent.

The county's black population, meanwhile, grew at a rate of 293 percent - nearly tripling its numbers between 1970 and 1990.

In 1990, whites made up 73 percent of the county's population. In 2000, after the white population decreased by more than 28,000 people, whites made up just 59 percent of the population.

More recent data from the state Department of Finance shows the county's white population declined even faster between 2000 and 2007.

Over those years, while the county as a whole gained nearly 316,000 people - a growth rate of 18 percent - it lost 41,000 white people: more than 5 percent of its white population.

"The white people are just being shoved out," said Don Sheets, 81, who came to San Bernardino in 1936. "The minorities come in and then they let the properties go to hell. When you live next door to a blighted home, blighted lawns and so on, you just give up. The next move is to leave."

Experts say the county isn't experiencing "white flight," but rather a white population that is aging and not coming into the county as quickly as other groups.

"In general, the white, non-Hispanic population is older," said David Swanson, a sociology professor at the UC Riverside. "Many of those people are those who moved to California from elsewhere and now they're retiring and moving back to where they came from."

Gayk said many California retirees will sell their homes and move to states with lower costs of living.

Sheets said he's seen that trend locally, with several of his friends leaving at least the city of San Bernardino for cheaper or safer locations.

"All my guys I golf with have left," Sheets said. "One went to Yucca Valley, another to Apple Valley. They just moved away."

As whites have gotten older and started to leave, Latinos are coming in.

Tony Quinn, a political analyst in Sacramento, said much of the county's growth has been middle-class Latino families moving out of Los Angeles and into surrounding areas.

According to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California, Latinos will be the county's largest group by the middle of the coming decade.

"By 2015, Latinos will constitute a majority population in the Inland Empire," according to the report. "Latinos will be the new majority in many of the most populated subregions as well, including the Coachella Valley, Northwestern Riverside (county), Western San Bernardino (county), and Eastern San Bernardino (county)."

Local Republican leaders say their party needs to do a better job of reaching out to Latinos if it hopes to fend off a growing advantage for the Democratic party.

The county's changing population could also force big changes in the kinds of public services governments provide and the kinds of business and development that come to the county, Gayk said, though it's not clear yet what those changes might be.

"Many people come from societies where they're more used to living in multi-family, high-density housing," he said. "Whether that's going to have an impact on the housing market is hard to say."

DICER wrote:
"The minorities come in and then they let the properties go to hell. When you live next door to a blighted home, blighted lawns and so on, you just give up. The next move is to leave."

L O L. Racist.

lol @ white

What did they expect when they moved to SAN BERNARDINO a city with a spanish name. But like it states in the 70's we latinos weren't even recognized, it was Black or White, So this census is based on bull shit numbers, but i'm sure the last part of it is correct it will be mostly Latino probably sooner than they think. As far as white people moving out, i'm sure its true because you got Raza trying to move out, lol I known SB isn't on the top of my list when it comes to places i want to move to. It is however a city to get some cheap investment properties.

The county's changing population could also force big changes in the kinds of public services governments provide and the kinds of business and development that come to the county, Gayk said, though it's not clear yet what those changes might be.

"Many people come from societies where they're more used to living in multi-family, high-density housing," he said. "Whether that's going to have an impact on the housing market is hard to say."

Investing in a county where job's have been scarce for decades isn't an ideal investment. The truth of the matter is, the white population began to decline as the jobs dried up and even before that during its heyday San Bernardino was considered a retirement community. Historically San Bernardino was known for two things crime and vice and today San Bernardino is known for what? Crime and Vice. The presence of Kaiser steel and Norton were anomalies in San Bernardino's history. For example Kaiser steel opened during World War II in 1943 and closed 40 years later. The Santa Fe's San Bernardino operation was already in place but reached its peak during this same time frame with high and lows interspersed through the years particularly during the 60s and 70s. So what I am saying is the better paying jobs were few and far between and first pick always went to the cities white residents. The minorities who most effectively took advantage of San Bernardino's low housing cost and living did so by commuting to Los Angeles or where ever the construction boom was at the time.

The difference between the past and present is San Bernardino's long and tortuous drawn in the way of people power. The most promising of our students leave for college and never return because they know there isn't anything to comeback to. If they obtain a degree in engineering where are they going to ply that skill set? Having said that, the current influx of people arriving from Los Angeles and other points on the map are doing so because they were priced and taxed out of those areas and spotted what seemed like a grand opportunity in San Bernardino. San Bernardino's housing price was lower than the other areas for a reason and this is what they failed to realize. The the lack of jobs in this area paying even a livable wage has always been shamefully low outside of the few years that Kaiser, Norton and the Santa Fe ran full tilt. I would venture to say even then, the jobs in Los Angeles in the defense plants, oil refineries and at the Harbor payed better than those here in the Valley.

Couple that with the knowledge that this is a high crime, minority dominated community, the chance of economic recovery is slim to none. I love this city but it is what it is. If you don't believe me check old boys quote, he's saying it right there. It doesn't matter what minority group is in the majority numbers wise, the money is leaving and they aren't going to pour anymore into a hole filled with minorities.

What will happen is as more outsiders move in, the traditional boundries between minorities will continue to disappear and as living conditions continue to decline, there will be more inter-racial incidents that have more to do with frustration and despair than true racial animosity but the Sun won't report this. They will chock it up to gang and racial strife and those newly arrived members of the community will fall hook line and sinker for this ploy. Once the shootings ramp up, we'll get another dose of the need to pour millions more into adding a third class of outsiders to the mix in the way of law enforcement. Already weary of minorities, they will be thrown into the fray with orders to set things straight with no chance of success. It's a no win situation and it is as sure to happen as the sun rising tomorrow.

man, i hate to say it but.. SB is getting poorer and poorer.. property values are down, really down
my Tio Jesse moved out.. my sis' sold out and moved back to Longo.. my primo Danny moved out, my Tia Coco moved back to Fonta..
about the only ones I still got living there are my prima Lisa down there in Mount Vernon, but that's about it.

All my family says the same thing, SB is getting worse and worse

The city has been in a downward spiral for decades. And aside from the current economic collapse and record high foreclosures, things have been dismal in SB for years and years now. Nothing is "new under the sun".

Well there is something new that they're trying to get started, they want to make SB the Solar/ green power technology center of the state and they hope it will become the next silicone valley of solar technologies. Not sure how far they are from that becoming reality but at least the balls in motion. Ill have to look up the article again to get more specific.

ALL TALK IN MY EYES 420, AS OF LATE SB SEEMS TO BE MORE UNDER A LIGHT AFTER THE PREZ SAID HOW WELL THE CITY WAS DOING WITH LESS MURDERS BUT THAT WAS THEN AND THIS IS NOW.
DIDNT SB CITY SAY THEY WERE GONNA TURN THE CITY INTO SOME LAKE OR SOMETHING?
I REALLY CANT SEE SB DOING ANYTHING WITH THE WAY SHIT IS NOW IN THAT CITY...AN UPPER CLASS CITY LIKE RANCHO HAD TO TAKE DOWN ALL THEYRE RED LIGHT CAMS CUS OF MONEY PROBLEMS,PINCHING EVERY DIME I DONT SEE SB DOING MUCH BETTER.

so if i wanted to buy a pad in verdugo, in an area not so efed up, with few or none crazy cheit going on around, where would that be left at?

I would say overall not really. Just my opinion. Theirs some decent streets in SB but wherever it is, your always a block or two away from some real bad stuff. Even where I had stayed with my girl for a while some years back off davidson just north of Highland was kind of like that. I didn't think the actual street was bad but walk a couple blocks down and your in the middle of some drama. But again thats just my opinion.

wolfman wrote:so if i wanted to buy a pad in verdugo, in an area not so efed up, with few or none crazy cheit going on around, where would that be left at?

I THINK THE NORTH SIDE IS MORE CHILL THAN OTHER AREAS LIKE ES,WS,AND SS BUT EVEN THAT AREA GETS ACTIVE FROM WHAT I HEAR...COULDNT TELL YOU WHAT STREETS THO, IM ONLY IN WEST AND EAST VERDUGO WHEN IM OVER IN THAT SIDE OF THE IxE.

that says it all ~> nowhere in SB is it good to move your youngsters to

hey, that north side is not so bad.. i had some family that lived up there by Delmann and my sister sold out in Muscoy, i don't know if that is what you vatos call SB North Side, but i kinda liked it up there.. the houses had some big ass yards.. and that's what my family likes.. throw a big family get together with lots of room for all sizes to have some good times.. the little ones running around all over.. the mota smokers out there on a corner blazing it up and listening to their sounds, us older ones on another corner playing pokar, conkian, dominos, blowing frajo after frajo and the ladies, las tias y las primas over there laughing like crazy while they prep up things for the night. That's what i liked about my tio's pad and my sister's pad, a big yard. You don't big yards down in LA or SD like you do up there.

wolfman wrote:so if i wanted to buy a pad in verdugo, in an area not so efed up, with few or none crazy cheit going on around, where would that be left at?

The closer you get to Cal State the better off you will be.

so RIVA is nicer than BERDO?