2010 Census: We Told You So

The release of the initial numbers from the 2010 Census paints a picture some of us figured out a decade ago: Virginia Beach is becoming more racially diverse. In fact, fewer Whites lives in Virginia Beach in 2010 than in 1990. What population growth we've had for the past generation has been entirely minority.

In the past decade, we went from being 19.0% African-American to 19.6%, and from 5.0% Asian-American to 6.3%. The big boom: our Hispanic community jumped from 4.2% to 6.6%.

I stated a decade ago that it was a natural leveling effect. It never made sense that Virginia Beach was only 21% minority (1990 Census) next to cities with much larger percentiles.

Of course, the fun part will be how the Municipal Center tries to come to grips with the changing realities on the ground.