21st century immigrant story skips the big city; Study also finds fewer new arrivals purchase homes
Chicago Tribune
By Alejandro Lazo
... Recently arrived immigrants flocked to smaller metropolitan areas during the first half of the last decade, lured by less competition for jobs and cheaper housing, but they were not as likely to buy homes in such places, according to a study expected to be released Monday. The population of immigrants living in the U.S. for a decade or less jumped 27% in cities such as Nashville, El Paso, Bakersfield and Stockton during the first five years of the century, the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate reported. More traditional "gateway" metro areas such as Los Angeles and New York registered a 6% decline in the number of these newcomers over that same period.
"There has been tremendous growth in the population of immigrants in these smaller metropolitan areas," said Gary Painter, director of research at the center and co-author of the study. "A lot of immigrants weren't even going to the gateways first." But "the networks are certainly much newer in these smaller metro areas."...