Pr. George’s county experiences change
(washingtonpost.com) Prince George’s, a county that underwent a seismic population shift a generation ago as it became the nation’s wealthiest majority-black suburb, might be on the cusp of another demographic change.
In the past decade, Prince George’s has become a destination for many working-class and foreign-born families because of its relatively affordable housing. At the same time, thousands of middle-class people, many of them African American, have left for neighboring counties in search of better schools, less crime and bigger houses.
The population swings — documented in a recent report by the Brookings Institution and in census data — have not made a significant difference in the overall socioeconomics of Prince George’s, which has a population of 840,000. And county officials say a recent surge in commercial and residential development will continue to bring amenities that will attract affluent residents.
But the changes are visible in northern parts of the county, where several communities such as Bladensburg, Edmonston and Langley Park have become heavily Latino.
Also, the migration patterns are transforming several of Maryland’s outer suburbs, notably Charles County. With 140,000 people, the county has one the nation’s fastest-growing black populations, census data show.
The patterns detailed in the census data and the Brookings report confirm a trend suggested for years by anecdotal evidence: On the whole, upwardly mobile African American families who have left Prince George’s for bordering suburbs are being replaced by people with lower incomes. (more…)
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July 27th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Did you notice that last paragraphs?
Charles is also becoming more affluent. Between 2000 and 2005, the median household income rose from $62,199 to $69,573, and the number of households making six figures nearly doubled, census data show.
“Charles County, from an economic perspective, represents a suburb of Prince George’s County just as Prince George’s County is a suburb of Washington, D.C.,” Basu said. “That is where they find the greener pastures, the lower density, the rustic lifestyle, the cleaner air and so on.”
Jennifer Walker, a real estate agent who is black, recently moved from Upper Marlboro to Waldorf because she wanted a safer environment for her four children, ages 6 to 17.
She said she hopes to pull them out of the private Christian school they attend in Bowie and enroll them in Charles’s public schools.
Standing on the steps of her new home on a cul-de-sac off a two-lane country road, Walker said she loves her new community. “This is a breath of fresh air,” she said.
The thing is, Upper Marlboro’s crime problem is mostly car theft from my last look into it. Next, she thinks the school system in Charles is better. It is but it’s still not that great. Like I had commented before, Charles County is getting PG County Blacks who are disappointed in the school system AND that it would be interesting to get the percentage of PG County Black parents who send their kids to private schools. I think the number is higher than the norm.