The United States of America is the most highly developed country in the world. In this century it is the only industrialized country that is expected to soon represent most of the world’s population. “The United States has never lived in isolation from the rest of the world: over half of its anticipated growth is expected to come in the future from immigration, following a well-established, historical pattern” (Haub). Not all areas of the country experience equal growth. Texas, California, and Florida have recently experienced the highest growth, whereas the population of large metropolitan areas, for instance, Washington and New York, does not seem to be expanding and is mostly dispersing to suburbs.
To begin with, Texas is one of the most populous states which continues growing. At this, the population of the state consists predominantly of immigrants from Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. “By the year 2000, 35 percent of the North Texas population (including Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton counties) were either foreign-born or the children of foreign-born residents.” (Dhingra 29) Over the next two decades, the population of this state is expected to increase by 7.1 million people; by the end of 2025, the state is forecast to become the second most populous one in the United States. Horseshoe Bay, an area in Central Texas, is believed to have experienced unbelievable growth in the past years with its population has increased more than 116% in the period from 1990 till 2000. The region is still growing with the population increasing monthly; the rates of its growth are phenomenal.
Secondly, California, despite high housing prices, is also a fast-growing state. Currently, the population of the state is almost 37 million people. One of the reasons for “California’s continued growth is that the state has an immense amount of land. When the amenable, established communities become too costly to build in, developers head for the areas within the state in which costs are lower.” (Fischel 250) It is mostly due to this fact that urban and suburban areas get less expanded than the rural ones. Another reason for California’s growth is the diversity of the population. This sometimes plays a decisive role for immigrants from abroad:
An obvious question is why the immigrants from abroad don’t go to Cleveland or St. Louis, where the housing prices are lower. They may yet do so, but immigrants from abroad have always been initially attracted to areas in which there are other immigrants from the same country. The benefits of having […] an established Korean community in Los Angeles overwhelm the drawbacks of extraordinary housing prices. (Fischel 250)
Finally, Florida joins the ranks of the fast-growing states of the US. Recently the state has shown a high rate of growth (around 40%) both in population and overall growth. “According to the US Census, the state had a population of 6,789,437 in 1970 and 15,982,824 in 2000 (a 135 percent increase), while the nation grew from 203,302,000 to 281,422,000 in 2000 (a 38 percent increase).” (Connerly, Chapin, and Higgins 89) The population is dense in urban and suburban areas; the total population of Florida is around 16 million people.
Florida enacted growth management legislation in the 1970s and 1980s in response to rapid urbanization and suburbanization that created state oversight for local future land use plans and large developments with regional impacts. Drafters of the legislation felt that the state oversight would expose the link between growth and infrastructure costs and as a consequence might slow growth to a pace that could be met by infrastructure improvements and direct growth to areas most suitable. (Jongman and Pungetti 240)
However, the growth of Texas, California, and Florida is compensated by the lack of growth in Washington and New York. According to US Census, the population of Washington hardly increased in 2008. Not only the population but the economic growth of Washington is decreasing. The area still witnesses high prices and slow economic growth which affect negatively both population and businesses. As far as New York is concerned, domestic outmigration is considered to be the main reason for its slow population growth. These days New York faces a decline in urban population with the correspondent suburban growth and with most of the rural areas being urbanized. Since New York is a metropolitan area, the urbanization process that takes place currently may be “characterized by a monocentric urban growth pattern due to the concentration of industries, residences, and commerce.” (Parus-Ramos, Gould, and Aide)
Taking into consideration everything mentioned above, it can be concluded that, indeed, not all the areas of the United States of America can be characterized by equal growth and development. Thus, Texas, California, and Florida have recently shown high rates of population development. At this, the population of urban and suburban areas of California is less expanded, which is opposite in Florida where the population in urban and suburban areas is quite dense. New York’s and Washington’s growth is much slower; this concerns both the population and the economic growth.
Works Cited
Connerly, Charles E., Chapin, Timothy S., and Higgins, Harrison T. Growth management in Florida: planning for paradise. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007.
Dhingra, Pawan. Managing Multicultural Lives: Asian American Professionals and the Challenge of Multiple Identities. Stanford University Press, 2007.
Fischel, William A. Regulatory Takings: Law, Economics, and Politics. Harvard University Press, 1995.
Haub, Carl. “Global and U.S. National Population Trends”. 1995. Consequences. Web.
Jongman, R. H. and Pungetti, loria. Ecological Networks and Greenways: Concept, Design, Implementation. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Parus-Ramos , Isabel K., Gould, William A., and Aide, T. Mitchell. “Agricultural Abandonment, Suburban Growth, and Forest Expansion in Puerto Rico between 1991 and 2000”. 2008. Ecology and Society.