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May 2, 2012 | 4:16 PM | By

‘Junior Seau meant so much to me and many other Samoan youth’

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Junior Seau during a New England Patriots-Indianapolis Colts game in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 15, 2009

Junior Seau wasn’t the first Samoan American player in the NFL, but he was considered a role model among many of those who followed him into pro football. Seau, 43, was found dead this afternoon in his Oceanside, Calif. home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Born in San Diego to parents from American Samoa, Seau was a star linebacker who in his career played for the San Diego Chargers, the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. In 1994, he helped lead the Chargers to the Super Bowl. He retired in 2010 but remained an icon in his hometown, where last fall was inducted into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame.

He’s also one of a long line of Samoan American players in the NFL, several of whom followed Seau’s career path from the USC Trojans to the professional teams.

Among the many tributes that have taken place online in the last few hours, one message posted to Twitter by a younger NFL player of Samoan descent was especially moving.

Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a fellow California native who like Seau played for USC before being drafted by Pittsburgh, tweeted from his official account:

Here’s the extended message that Polamalu’s tweet linked to:

I am deeply saddened by the events that have transpired today. My heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to his family.

Junior Seau meant so much to me and many other Samoan youth both as a player and person. Junior epitomized hard work and dedication to football and philanthropy.

He was a childhood hero of mine and honored to say, a good friend. Junior Seau will always be someone I look up to and will walk the path he paved for me and many other Trojans, Samoans, and athletes alike.

ESPN has compiled a touching series of other tweets from fellow athletes who are mourning Seau’s death today.

FILED UNDER: Junior Seau, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers, Seau, Troy Polamalu, University of Southern California, USC
April 24, 2012 | 3:21 PM | By

California in the future: Older, less crowded, more second-generation

Photo by sansceriph/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Same lovely scenery as ever, with a changing population

A new California population projection provides a glimpse into what California will look like in the future, a state that will be less crowded than once predicted, whose population will be older, and whose younger faces will be increasingly second-generation.

The new projection from the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy predicts a far slower growth rate than what was projected five years ago, when the state was expected to have 50 million residents by 2032. According to the USC study, that’s not expected to happen now until near the middle of the century, in 2046.

A large part of this slowdown comes from immigration slowing to a near trickle. While the percentage of foreign-born California residents rose dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s, it’s now expected to remain steady at around 27 percent of the overall population through 2030.

Seniors will form a bigger share of the state’s population as Baby Boomers age, while the working-age population between 25 and 64 is expected to slow.

The bulk of what growth is seen in the working-age population – 98 percent of it, in fact – is expected to come from the U.S.-born children of immigrants. It’s a stark contrast to earlier years as the immigrant population was on the rise, when first-generation immigrants accounted for 80 percent of the growth in this age group.

As for those immigrants who are already here, more will be staying long-term. California’s share of foreign-born residents who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years or longer is expected to rise, making up roughly two-thirds of the immigrant population by 2030. At the same time, the number of newer arrivals is expected to keep dropping as the population becomes increasingly native-born.

The implications are big ones. A smaller population means less demand on infrastructure, good news in a financially strapped state. At the same time, there are other things to contend with that the report doesn’t get into: a shrinking foreign-born labor pool, more aging people to care for, fewer Californians overall of working age. And some interesting cultural shifts, already occurring as California becomes home to a growing number of families (albeit smaller ones, as the report predicts people having fewer children) made up of the descendants of immigrants.

The complete USC population projection can be downloaded here.

FILED UNDER: Population growth, Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, USC
April 13, 2012 | 5:33 PM | By

Two other murder victims near USC this year, both young men of color

Erika Aguilar/KPCC

Police tape at the scene of the murder of two USC students near campus, April 11, 2012

The intensive news coverage of the murder of two international graduate students from China this week near the University of Southern California is understandable: two young people, Wu Ying and Qu Ming, both 23, struck down senselessly in what seemed like a random carjacking or robbery attempt; the fact that both were foreign students far from home, possibly less than familiar with the dangers of their environs; the juxtaposition of a high-cost private university with its working-class surroundings; and the safety concerns for other students arising in the aftermath.

There have been other young people killed near USC in recent months, though not students. This week, as police described the crime situation surrounding USC, they mentioned there had been four murders in the area this year. There have been more homicide deaths in the larger area surrounding USC this year, but the two shooting deaths below were those closest to campus as seen in the Los Angeles Times’ Homicide Report, which maps homicide deaths in the city. One victim was Latino, the other was black. Both were young.

Jostin Sosa Ordonez, 17: Sosa, described as Latino, was killed Jan. 12 in Vermont Square, a neighborhood a short distance south of the university and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum complex, on the 4100 block of South Figueroa Street. From the four-paragraph story:

Sosa Ordonez was found shot several times on a residential sidewalk about 6 a.m., said Ed Winter, spokesman for the coroner’s office. Authorities were called and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Winter had no other information about the case.

Justin Ford, 32: Ford, described as black, was killed March 22, also in Vermont Square on the 4500 block of South Kansas Avenue. The way he died was tragically similar to what shooting victim Qu Ming endured this week as he sought help. From a seven-paragraph story:

Ford was seated in his parked car about 1:15 p.m. when an unknown person walked up and began firing a gun, according to an LAPD news release.

After the shooting, the assailant fled on foot.

Having been hit several times, Ford got out of the vehicle and ran to the back porch of a nearby house, police said. The residents called 911 and Ford was later pronounced dead.

Investigators believe the shooting was gang-related. No arrests have been made in connection with the case.

The shooter in the deaths of the two USC students this week also remains outstanding. The university has announced a $125,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

FILED UNDER: University of Southern California, USC, USC shooting
April 11, 2012 | 4:52 PM | By

How safe do you feel in L.A.? It depends on your race

Photo by Erika Aguilar/KPCC

An officer at the scene of the double murder of two University of Southern California students in Los Angeles' West Adams neighborhood, April 11, 2012

Angelenos needn’t brace themselves for another riot anytime soon, according to a new survey released today. But they don’t see life in the city the same way, with differences in how they perceive race relations, their safety, and other aspects of life depending at least somewhat on their race and ethnicity.

A couple of weeks ahead of the 20th anniversary of the city’s 1992 riots this April 29, Loyola Marymount University’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles has released the results of a survey that shows Angelenos to be generally optimistic about their hometown.

Asked if it was “likely or unlikely” that there would be riots or disturbances like those experienced in 1992 within the next five years, only 41 percent of 1,600 respondents said yes, compared with 61 percent during a similar survey in 1997. An overall majority also said they’d seen progress in race relations.

But broken down by demographic group, the responses are revealing. Asked if they believe the city in general, and their neighborhood in particular, is going in the “right direction or wrong direction,” black Angelenos were the most likely to say “wrong direction;” meanwhile, white Angelenos were more likely than others to say that racial and ethnic groups in L.A. are getting along “very well” or “somewhat well.”

Asked if they see Los Angeles as having become safer or not as safe compared with 20 years ago, 40 percent of black Angelenos saw it as “not as safe,” compared with 21 percent of whites, 32 percent of Latinos, and 36 percent of Asians. Meanwhile whites, followed by Latinos and Asians, were more likely to see it as having become safer.

Along the same lines, 43 percent of black respondents and 38 percent of Latino respondents said they feared that crime in Los Angeles had gotten worse; on the flip side, 41 percent of white respondents said they saw crime as less of a problem than it was 20 years ago. In a chart:

 

 

 

 

 

The responses are, or course, reflective of respondents’ experiences and the neighborhoods they live in. Just today in West Adams, a traditionally black neighborhood that has become increasingly Latino, police are investigating the shooting deaths of two students from China who attended nearby University of Southern California, shot as they sat in their car at around 1 a.m. The two victims, a man and a woman in their 20s, were both graduate students. Police told KPCC that while violent crime is down, four people have been killed in the area this year so far.

Perhaps not surprisingly, both black and Latino respondents in the LMU survey were the most likely to say they believed the city’s gang problems had grown worse, as opposed to improving.

On the bright side, in spite of continuing tensions in areas like South L.A. and Compton, where black flight has taken place while more Latinos have moved in, 44 percent of Latinos said that race relations between the two groups had improved, as opposed to 15 percent saying they had not. Black respondents were fairly split.

There’s more to the LMU survey, which touched on education, housing, employment and other quality of life issues in the city. It can be downloaded here.

FILED UNDER: Los Angeles riots, Loyola Marymount University, University of Southern California, USC, USC murders, USC shootings
March 1, 2012 | 10:42 AM | By

What is a multiracial city? Southern California has a growing number of them

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

Outside a mini-mall in Alhambra, Calif., October 2010

What is a multiracial city? According to researchers at the University of Southern California, these are cities that “have significant populations of at least two and as many as four major racial groups.” And Southern California has loads of them, many more than two decades ago.

A new report out today from USC finds that over the past 20 years throughout the region, the percentage of cities fitting this definition of multiracial has been steadily on the rise.

While just over half the cities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties could be considered multiracial in 1990, more than 61 percent of the cities in the region are now home to two or more of the major racial groups identified in the study: white, black, Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander.

Some of the highlights:

  • There are ten cities that had a balance of all four groups in 2010, the two largest being Los Angeles and Long Beach.
  • Major racial shifts have occurred in Orange County: In 1990, only two cities in that county could be considered home to three major groups; now there are a dozen, including the cities of Anaheim, Brea and Placentia, where the Asian/Pacific Islander population has grown, and La Palma, which has become home to more Latinos.
  • The overall multiracial winner among the counties? Riverside County, where 21 of the county’s 26 incorporated cities fit the multiracial definition.

More from the report, which distinguishes between different kinds of racial balance in cities. By its definition, a multiracial city “does not require an equal proportional share but a significant share,” the report reads. Some examples of these:

One-Way Cities. These are cities where one group constitutes a majority and no other group accounts for at least 20% of the population. Examples include Malibu (88.5% white); Huntington Park (97.1% Latino); Cerritos (63.7% Asian); Santa Ana (78.3% Latino); and Ojai (78.0% white). All counties have one-way cities throughout Southern California.

Two-Way Cities. We define “two-way” multiracial cities as those where there are two population groups that each account for at least 20% of the population. Examples include Alhambra, Compton, Palmdale, Irvine, San Juan Capistrano, Riverside, Redlands, and Ventura. Two-way cities are prevalent throughout the five-county region.

Three-Way Cities. These cities have three significant population groups, with the smallest accounting for at least 15% of the total population. A lower threshold for determining the third largest group is appropriate considering that Asians and blacks each comprise less than 15% of the region’s population. Three-way cities include Glendale, Lancaster, Lomita, Torrance, Anaheim, Moreno Valley, and Chino Hills; most are in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Four-Way Cities. These are the most racially balanced with significant populations of all four groups. We define “four-way” cities as follows: the fourth largest group is at least 8% of the population with the largest group comprising no more than 55% of the population; the second- and third-largest groups exceed 8% of the population but have no other limits. Examples include Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, Loma Linda, and Rancho Cucamonga. The only four-way cities in the five-county region are in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

But because cities’ demographics continue to shift, their racial balance remains in flux. From a press release quoting the report’s lead author Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at USC:

“Right now, we’re at a sweet spot for racial balance in Southern California,” Myers said. “Decline in the white population and growth among Latinos or Asians only increases racial balance up to a point. Some cities have already started to lose their balance.”

Examples of shifting demographics working in the opposite direction, i.e. making cities less racially balanced, are cities like Azusa, Downey, Lawndale, Cerritos and Walnut, where a single group that was once a minority now comprises the majority. For example, Azusa, Downey and Lawndale now have majority Latino populations (at least 61 percent); in Cerritos and Walnut, Asian/Pacific Islander residents now make up at least 63 percent of the population.

The shifting racial balance of Southern California cities and neighborhoods has been at the center of numerous stories in the last year, from the political power battles in once majority-black, now majority-Latino cities like Lynwood and Compton to the recently dashed hopes that Korean Americans have long held for better municipal representation in Los Angeles. And on the flip side, as some neighborhoods gentrify and minorities are pushed out, this shifting balance is also evident in the socioeconomic changes taking place in neighborhoods like Echo Park, a once-Latino neighborhood which the 2010 census showed becoming increasingly white.

The complete USC report can be downloaded here.

FILED UNDER: Alhambra, Dowell Myers, Multiracial cities, University of Souther California, USC
February 1, 2012 | 4:27 PM | By

Study: In low income ‘food deserts,’ the kind and size of food stores matters

Source: University of Southern California

As Michelle Obama was promoting grocery store access in Inglewood today, the University of Southern California released a report illustrating just where it is that large supermarkets are most lacking in several large metro areas, including L.A.

The report makes a distinction between chain supermarkets, which provide lower prices and a larger selection, and smaller retail food stores, which there are more of, but don’t have the economy of scale to provide the best prices or freshest food. Even if there are food stores around, the kind and quality matters, according to researchers. From a USC press release:

“’Retail deserts’ is not an accurate label for many poor neighborhoods,” said Jenny Schuetz, a professor with the USC Price School of Public Policy and the study’s lead author.

“It’s not a matter of how many there are – there are lots of small ‘mom-and-pop’ stores but not many larger chain stores or supermarkets,” Schuetz said. “Having access to bigger stores could mean a larger range of produce and lower prices.”

The study mapped the grocery scarcity in two ways, taking in how many “supermarkets” (which include some smaller and medium-sized food retail stores, not necessarily large chains) there are in neighborhoods as well as taking a look at chain grocery-store employment, which indicates the presence of larger stores.

As it has been for years, it’s Los Angeles’ working-class black and Latino neighborhoods (some of which have become increasingly Latino in recent years) that are among the most severely lacking in grocery outlets, as seen on the supermarket map above. So are some of the San Fernando Valley’s poorest Latino neighborhoods.

In a mapped stretch just east of the 110 along the 105 Freeway, which corresponds on a county map to an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County and part of Compton, the supermarket-to-1,000 resident ratio is zero to .28. In an area that corresponds to the Sun Valley-Pacoima area, the supermarket-to-1,000 resident ratio .35 to .43. And because the “supermarkets” counted aren’t necessarily all large stores, these residents’ food access could be worse than it appears.

The report, published in the current issue of Regional Science and Urban Economics, can be downloaded here.

FILED UNDER: Food deserts, Michelle Obama, University of Southern California, USC
December 2, 2011 | 10:51 AM | By

How immigrants will help reshape the future wealth of Los Angeles

Photo by moooster/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Over the next several decades, what will be the color of money in Los Angeles? A new report from the California Community Foundation points to what some might find an unexpected driver of wealth in the region: entrepreneurial immigrants.

Along with entrepreneurship, immigration is expected to be one of the two most likely factors shaping the creation of wealth in the region in the coming 50 years, according to the report. An excerpt:

Los Angeles’ entrepreneurial community is diverse, with more women- and minority-owned businesses than any other county in the nation, according to the Federal Reserve.

There is a strong connection between entrepreneurial activity and immigration. Immigrants were, for example, more than twice as likely in 2010 to start businesses each month than were native-born U.S. residents.

Titled “The Future of Philanthropy in Los Angeles: A Wealth of Opportunity,” the report presents a picture of the wealth that is due to change hands in the next five decades as older residents die off, some of whom will leave money to nonprofits. According to the report, Los Angeles County is poised to experience unprecedented growth in its wealth – and thus, potential philanthropy – between now and 2060. It is also expected to have far and away the most money changing hands between generations during this time, more than in any other U.S. city.

This is partly due to a large degree of entrepreneurship in Los Angeles, which ranked last year as having the higest level of entrepreneurship among the 15th largest cities in the nation.

What do immigrants have to do with it? A bit more from the report:

According to the transfer of wealth in L.A. County study by RUPRI, Los Angeles will likely continue to experience two types of major international immigration. The first is entry level workers. Typically, these households require two or three generations before there is a significant accumulation of assets.

The second type is the immigration of higher net worth and higher educated households. Because L.A. is a gateway and safe harbor for dislocated persons and families, it will likely see high levels of immigration from this second group. Like retirees moving to warmer climates, these households come into the community with significant wealth, thereby establishing a quicker opportunity for giving back.

Between first-generation immigrants and their entrepreneurial offspring (some of whom take over family businesses, as we’ll be discussing in a panel at KPCC next week), it adds up to a good amount of entrepreneurial activity. According to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, a national study that contains data on the growth of immigrant entrepreneurship, the percentage of new entrepreneurs who are immigrants more than doubled between 1996 and 2010, making up close to a third (29 percent) of all new entrepreneurs. The study also notes that the entrepreneurship rate among immigrants is more than double that of native-born Americans.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Economy, California Community Foundation, Future of wealth, Immigrant entrepreneurs, Jody Agius Vallejo, USC
October 6, 2011 | 12:10 PM | By

Report: First and second generation to be a third of U.S. population by 2040

Source: University of Southern California

A report released today by the University of Southern California that projects the growth of immigrant generations in the United States has the second-generation children of immigrants poised to make up a larger share of the overall U.S. population in coming years, more so than they have in the past.

Published by USC’s Population Dynamics Research Group, the report projects changes in the population of foreign-born immigrants and their descendants through 2040. It predicts slower growth in the foreign-born immigrant population, but growth all the same, with foreign-born immigrants due to comprise 16.7 percent of the population by 2040 (up from 13.2 in 2010).

The growth of the second generation – which includes the older second-generation children of immigrant parents who arrived long ago – has taken a different trajectory over the years, interestingly. Now it’s on a steady climb:

The native-born second generation children of immigrants show a different historical trend. There was no increase in the second generation’s share of total population until after 2000 as the increasing numbers of children of recent, post-1960s immigrants were off-set by declining numbers of much older children of immigrant parents who arrived before 1920, in the previous period of mass immigration.

Since 2000, as the older generation shrank due to mortality and the new generation continued to grow due to births, the second-generation’s overall share of the population began to rebound. In the future it is projected to increase in parallel with the first-generation’s share, from 9.2% in 2010 to 13.7% by 2040.

Using the broadest possible definition of the second generation, which adds the native-born children of native-born mothers and foreign-born fathers, increases the second generation share by an estimated additional 2.7% in 2010 and 4.1% in 2040.

As a result, “the total foreign stock (parents and children with recent immigrant roots) is currently 22.5% of the total U.S. population and is projected in 2040 to rise to 30.5%, a level not seen since 1930,” the report reads.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: 1.5 generation, Immigrant population, Population Dynamics Research Group, Second generation, USC