Anglo Enclave Becomes an Ethnic Patchwork

During the 1980s, the San Gabriel Valley was the scene of demographic shifts so radical that even some experienced observers are surprised at the extent of the changes shown in recently released data from the U.S. Census.

Once the domain of mostly Anglo home-owners, the area is increasingly becoming a patchwork of ethnic groups, with burgeoning Asian and Hispanic communities and eastward-moving white enclaves.

“The San Gabriel Valley has clearly become as much a primary port of entry for Asian immigrants as inner-city and downtown areas have traditionally been,” said Don Nakanishi, director of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA. “The same with Hispanics. The port of entry is now as likely to be Pomona or El Monte as Echo Park or Union Avenue.”

Researchers and voting rights activists were particularly surprised at the extent of the erosion of Anglo population in the western part of the region and at the dramatic increases in Asians in the eastern part of the region.

Asian population surges of well over 100% in well-to-do communities such as Hacienda Heights, Diamond Bar and Walnut appear to indicate a “secondary movement” of Asian home-buying, said UCLA public policy researcher Paul Ong.

“Some of the more established Asian residents are now moving out of Monterey Park and Alhambra,” Ong said. “It’s the same process some of the whites are going through. Because the housing market has been fairly robust, some are willing to sell and move further east.”

Of 34 San Gabriel Valley cities and unincorporated communities studied, 13 have Anglo majorities, 11 have Hispanic majorities and one--Monterey Park--has an Asian majority. No ethnic group was a majority of the population in the others.

The census data also showed that during the last decade:

* Anglos disappeared in large numbers from such communities as Baldwin Park, Rosemead, El Monte and Monterey Park, which lost as much as 47% of their Anglo populations during the 1980s.

* Anglos increased dramatically in the fast-growing communities to the east, such as La Verne, San Dimas, Walnut and Diamond Bar, where they registered gains of as high as 37%.

* Every community studied showed marked additions in Asian populations. The largest were in Walnut and Diamond Bar, where Asians increased by 732% and 684% respectively. The smallest increase was in Altadena, where the 1990 Census recorded a 46% increase in the number of Asians.

* Hispanics continued to increase almost everywhere in the region, particularly in cities along the San Bernardino and Pomona freeways. The only city in the region that showed a decrease in its Hispanic population was Monterey Park.

* Despite dramatic increases in such communities as West Covina, blacks appeared to be the most stable of the large ethnic groups. Blacks continued to be concentrated in large enclaves in Pasadena, Altadena and Pomona, none of which showed significant increases or decreases.

* American Indians and other ethnic groups continued to be represented in the San Gabriel Valley in small numbers, with no concentration in any city exceeding 500. Increases during the 1980s were all substantially less than 1%.

City officials in communities showing significant losses of Anglos said the phenomenon had little to do with “white flight” in the face of an influx of minorities.

Rather, it was directly related to the incentives of the real estate market, said Mayor Don McMillen of El Monte, where the Anglo population dropped by 41% in the decade.

McMillen talks about newly thriving communities in Riverside County, such as Moreno Valley. “Ten years ago, there was hardly a town out there,” he said. “A lot of people from the San Gabriel Valley sold their houses for $250,000 or $300,000 and went out there and got new ones for $150,000.”

Donald Wagner, assistant city manager in Rosemead, which also lost 41% of its Anglo population during the 1980s, said the ethnic shifts have been encouraged by development patterns.

“In some parts of the county (such as Rosemead), there were a lot of older houses on larger lots,” he said. “Developers bought up those 50-by-150 lots, put two or three together, then built four or five houses. Then the Asians were the only ones who had the money to buy them.”

Homeowners close to retirement were encouraged by the hot real estate market of two or more years ago to “cash out,” Wagner said.

Cities where major slow-growth battles were fought were among the slowest growing, in terms of added dwelling units. For example, in Pasadena, where voters approved a 1989 initiative that limits the city to 250 new housing units a year, the number of dwelling units increased by only 13% in the 1980s.

Alhambra and Monterey Park, where there were similar battles, showed increases in dwelling units of 14% and 10% respectively.

The big growth leaders were in the eastern part of region. Walnut, with a 139% increase in dwelling units, and Diamond Bar, with a 111% gain, were the fast-growth San Gabriel Valley cities of the 1980s. Walnut was the second-fastest-growing city in Los Angeles County, after Palmdale.

Researchers say the changes in the San Gabriel Valley--while “as dramatic, if not more so, as those in any other area,” according to Nakanishi--actually are part of broad regional trends.

“I suppose if you go back to the turn of the century,” said Leroy Hardy, senior research associate at the Rose Institute in Claremont, “and look at the influx of Italians or Eastern European Jews, you might see as dramatic a shift as you’re seeing in California now.”

ETHNIC BREAKDOWN

Following are the latest U.S. Census figures on the racial/ethnic population breakdown in San Gabriel Valley communities compared to the 1980 totals. In the data, the U.S. Census makes a distinction between racial groups and ethnic groups. All categories except “Hispanic” are considered racial groups. The “Hispanic” category is considered an ethnic group and includes Hispanics of all races. Anglos are non-Hispanic whites. All of the groups together represent the total population picture.

% change % change % change Total from ’80 Anglo from ’80 Black from ’80 ALHAMBRA 82,106 27 19,924 -36 1,482 152 ALTADENA 42,658 5 18,494 2 16,124 -6 ARCADIA 48,290 5 31,409 -23 354 385 AZUSA 41,333 41 14,980 -2 1,421 283 BALDWIN PARK 69,330 37 10,531 -41 1,443 143 BRADBURY 829 -2 572 -18 17 -47 CLAREMONT 32,503 5 24,742 -3 1,568 18 COVINA 43,207 28 27,200 -2 1,641 304 DIAMOND BAR 53,672 91 28,286 37 2,935 111 DUARTE 20,688 23 9,380 1 1,766 19 EL MONTE 106,209 34 16,126 -41 820 85 GLENDORA 47,828 24 37,260 10 498 163 HACIENDA HEIGHTS 52,354 6 20,461 -31 1,018 55 INDUSTRY 631 -5 268 -35 19 217 IRWINDALE 1,050 2 126 5 1 -80 LA PUENTE 36,955 20 5,350 -42 1,133 2 LA VERNE 30,897 31 22,038 21 876 50 MONROVIA 35,761 17 20,409 -3 3,443 18 MONTEREY PARK 60,738 12 7,129 -47 330 -50 PASADENA 131,591 11 61,325 -5 23,391 -2 POMONA 131,723 42 37,149 -14 18,007 4 ROSEMEAD 51,638 21 8,197 -41 265 110 ROWLAND HEIGHTS 42,647 51 15,633 -12 2,062 160 SAN DIMAS 32,397 35 22,746 22 1,182 23 SAN GABRIEL 37,120 23 11,294 -28 357 141 SAN MARINO 12,959 -3 8,090 -31 28 -7 SIERRA MADRE 10,762 -1 9,059 -5 90 34 SOUTH EL MONTE 20,850 25 2,056 -37 75 188 SOUTH PASADENA 23,936 6 14,909 -12 705 50 SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 7,700 42 1,141 -7 37 -31 TEMPLE CITY 31,100 7 18,957 -19 168 223 VALINDA 18,735 0 4,978 -46 889 -18 WALNUT 29,105 133 9,745 23 1,855 279 WEST COVINA 96,086 20 38,831 -25 7,763 72

% change Asian from ’80 ALHAMBRA 30,715 289 ALTADENA 1,722 46 ARCADIA 11,175 543 AZUSA 2,583 178 BALDWIN PARK 7,910 296 BRADBURY 121 241 CLAREMONT 2,717 110 COVINA 3,101 231 DIAMOND BAR 13,065 684 DUARTE 2,268 211 EL MONTE 11,846 456 GLENDORA 2,584 215 HACIENDA HEIGHTS 13,824 157 INDUSTRY 22 267 IRWINDALE 22 380 LA PUENTE 2,641 238 LA VERNE 2,129 204 MONROVIA 1,530 166 MONTEREY PARK 34,022 91 PASADENA 10,171 74 POMONA 8,287 249 ROSEMEAD 17,316 371 ROWLAND HEIGHTS 12,059 429 SAN DIMAS 2,682 200 SAN GABRIEL 11,830 372 SAN MARINO 4,166 371 SIERRA MADRE 527 75 SOUTH EL MONTE 1,014 284 SOUTH PASADENA 5,002 98 SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 2,496 250 TEMPLE CITY 5,991 313 VALINDA 1,895 121 WALNUT 10,572 732 WEST COVINA 15,675 182

Note: Percent change for Asian and American Indian categories include Hispanics and non-Hispanics.

% change % change Am. Ind. from ’80 Other from ’80 Hispanic ALHAMBRA 190 1 169 -80 29,626 ALTADENA181 -13 118 -69 6,019 ARCADIA 132 18 74 -78 5,146 AZUSA 150 19 107 -57 22,092 BALDWIN PARK 246 2 149 -61 49,051 BRADBURY 1 na 0 -100 118 CLAREMONT 104 16 38 -90 3,334 COVINA 153 9 70 -77 11,042 DIAMOND BAR 138 9 112 -63 9,136 DUARTE 76 26 38 -83 7,160 EL MONTE 229 -39 197 -64 76,991 GLENDORA 194 10 42 -80 7,250 HACIENDA HEIGHTS 219 24 69 -85 16,763 INDUSTRY 1 -89 2 -82 319 IRWINDALE 0 -100 2 -50 899 LA PUENTE 111 -10 57 -76 27,663 LA VERNE 130 22 49 -80 5,675 MONROVIA 137 -16 65 -76 10,177 MONTEREY PARK 104 -5 122 -88 19,031 PASADENA 436 8 356 -78 35,912 POMONA 460 -22 287 -63 67,533 ROSEMEAD 108 -28 111 -73 25,641 ROWLAND HEIGHTS 116 -22 90 -70 12,687 SAN DIMAS 128 -1 47 -81 5,612 SAN GABRIEL 113 -21 55 -80 13,471 SAN MARINO 11 -33 9 -89 655 SIERRA MADRE 31 -35 5 -94 1,050 SOUTH EL MONTE 39 -20 33 -49 17,633 SOUTH PASADENA 73 9 34 -88 3,213 SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 12 -10 12 -59 4,002 TEMPLE CITY 86 -9 36 -83 5,862 VALINDA 37 -46 60 -75 10,876 WALNUT 61 17 36 -80 6,836 WEST COVINA 343 -10 221 -79 33,253

% change from ’80 ALHAMBRA 22 ALTADENA181 78 ARCADIA 63 AZUSA 78 BALDWIN PARK 67 BRADBURY 71 CLAREMONT 46 COVINA 158 DIAMOND BAR 132 DUARTE 42 EL MONTE 58 GLENDORA 108 HACIENDA HEIGHTS 28 INDUSTRY 45 IRWINDALE 0 LA PUENTE 43 LA VERNE 53 MONROVIA 82 MONTEREY PARK -10 PASADENA 65 POMONA 139 ROSEMEAD 5 ROWLAND HEIGHTS 79 SAN DIMAS 79 SAN GABRIEL 17 SAN MARINO 5 SIERRA MADRE 41 SOUTH EL MONTE 36 SOUTH PASADENA 38 SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 19 TEMPLE CITY 57 VALINDA 50 WALNUT 167 WEST COVINA 97

Note: Percent change for Asian and American Indian categories include Hispanics and non-Hispanics.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

POPULATION AND HOUSING DATA

% Change % Change City Adult from ’80 Children from ’80 ALHAMBRA 63,411 27 18,695 26 ALTADENA 31,757 10 10,901 -7 ARCADIA 37,877 7 10,413 -3 AZUSA 29,434 44 11,899 34 BALDWIN PARK 44,947 43 24,383 27 BRADBURY 634 1 195 -11 CLAREMONT 25,478 9 7,025 -8 COVINA 32,289 30 10,918 22 DIAMOND BAR 38,347 112 15,325 54 DUARTE 14,783 27 5,905 15 EL MONTE 70,062 36 36,147 29 GLENDORA 35,202 27 12,626 14 HACIENDA HEIGHTS 38,522 17 13,832 -17 INDUSTRY 498 -3 133 -8 IRWINDALE 688 7 362 -7 LA PUENTE 24,944 28 12,011 6 LA VERNE 22,802 34 8,095 24 MONROVIA 26,589 18 9,172 14 MONTEREY PARK 47,059 17 13,679 -2 PASADENA 102,608 13 28,983 6 POMONA 88,524 42 43,199 43 ROSEMEAD 35,961 26 15,677 11 ROWLAND HEIGHTS 30,345 65 12,302 25 SAN DIMAS 23,925 42 8,472 18 SAN GABRIEL 28,112 25 9,008 19 SAN MARINO 9,658 1 3,301 -13 SIERRA MADRE 8,706 1 2,056 -5 SOUTH EL MONTE 13,758 34 7,092 12 SOUTH PASADENA 19,070 7 4,866 0 SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 5,604 59 2,096 11 TEMPLE CITY 23,692 10 7,408 -1 VALINDA 12,489 6 6,246 -9 WALNUT 19,624 157 9,481 96 WEST COVINA 69,552 22 26,534 15

POPULATION AND HOUSING DATA

% Change % Change City Dwellings from ’80 Per dwelling from ’80 ALHAMBRA 29,604 14 2.8 11 ALTADENA 15,164 8 2.8 -3 ARCADIA 19,483 9 2.5 -4 AZUSA 13,232 32 3.1 6 BALDWIN PARK 17,179 23 4.0 11 BRADBURY 281 3 3.0 -4 CLAREMONT 10,831 13 3.0 -7 COVINA 16,110 32 2.7 -3 DIAMOND BAR 17,664 111 3.0 -9 DUARTE 6,758 23 3.1 0 EL MONTE 27,167 12 3.9 19 GLENDORA 16,876 31 2.8 -6 HACIENDA HEIGHTS 16,091 13 3.3 -6 INDUSTRY 139 -1 4.5 -4 IRWINDALE 282 11 3.7 -8 LA PUENTE 9,285 11 4.0 8 LA VERNE 11,113 33 2.8 -1 MONROVIA 13,944 17 2.6 0 MONTEREY PARK 20,298 10 3.0 1 PASADENA 53,032 13 2.5 -2 POMONA 38,466 27 3.4 12 ROSEMEAD 14,134 8 3.7 12 ROWLAND HEIGHTS 13,595 55 3.1 -3 SAN DIMAS 11,479 45 2.8 -7 SAN GABRIEL 12,736 14 2.9 8 SAN MARINO 4,465 2 2.9 -4 SIERRA MADRE 4,868 7 2.2 -7 SOUTH EL MONTE 4,867 11 4.3 13 SOUTH PASADENA 10,719 7 2.2 -2 SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 2,159 50 3.6 -5 TEMPLE CITY 11,548 8 2.7 -1 VALINDA 4,666 -7 4.0 8 WALNUT 8,091 139 3.6 -2 WEST COVINA 31,112 18 3.1 2

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

ETHNIC GROUPS

City Anglo Black Asian Am. Ind. Other Hispanic ALHAMBRA 24.3% 1.8% 37.4% 0.2% 0.2% 36.1% ALTADENA 43.4% 37.8% 4.0% 0.4% 0.3% 14.1% ARCADIA 65.0% 0.7% 23.1% 0.3% 0.2% 10.7% AZUSA 36.2% 3.4% 6.2% 0.4% 0.3% 53.4% BALDWIN PARK 15.2% 2.1% 11.4% 0.4% 0.2% 70.8% BRADBURY 69.0% 2.1% 14.6% 0.1% 0.0% 14.2% CLAREMONT 76.1% 4.8% 8.4% 0.3% 0.1% 10.3% COVINA 63.0% 3.8% 7.2% 0.4% 0.2% 25.6% DIAMOND BAR 52.7% 5.5% 24.3% 0.3% 0.2% 17.0% DUARTE 45.3% 8.5% 11.0% 0.4% 0.2% 34.6% EL MONTE 15.2% 0.8% 11.2% 0.2% 0.2% 72.5% GLENDORA 77.9% 1.0% 5.4% 0.4% 0.1% 15.2% HACIENDA HEIGHTS 39.1% 1.9% 26.4% 0.4% 0.1% 32.0% INDUSTRY 42.5% 3.0% 3.5% 0.2% 0.3% 50.6% IRWINDALE 12.0% 0.1% 2.1% 0.0% 0.2% 85.6% LA PUENTE 14.5% 3.1% 7.1% 0.3% 0.2% 74.9% LA VERNE 71.3% 2.8% 6.9% 0.4% 0.2% 18.4% MONROVIA 57.1% 9.6% 4.3% 0.4% 0.2% 28.5% MONTEREY PARK 11.7% 0.5% 56.0% 0.2% 0.2% 31.3% PASADENA 46.6% 17.8% 7.7% 0.3% 0.3% 27.3% POMONA 28.2% 13.7% 6.3% 0.3% 0.2% 51.3% ROSEMEAD 15.9% 0.5% 33.5% 0.2% 0.2% 49.7% ROWLAND HEIGHTS 36.7% 4.8% 28.3% 0.3% 0.2% 29.7% SAN DIMAS 70.2% 3.6% 8.3% 0.4% 0.1% 17.3% SAN GABRIEL 30.4% 1.0% 31.9% 0.3% 0.1% 36.3% SAN MARINO 62.4% 0.2% 32.1% 0.1% 0.1% 5.1% SIERRA MADRE 84.2% 0.8% 4.9% 0.3% 0.0% 9.8% SOUTH EL MONTE 9.9% 0.4% 4.9% 0.2% 0.2% 84.6% SOUTH PASADENA 62.3% 2.9% 20.9% 0.3% 0.1% 13.4% SOUTH SAN GABRIEL 14.8% 0.5% 32.4% 0.2% 0.2% 52.0% TEMPLE CITY 61.0% 0.5% 19.3% 0.3% 0.1% 18.8% VALINDA 26.6% 4.7% 10.1% 0.2% 0.3% 58.1% WALNUT 33.5% 6.4% 36.3% 0.2% 0.1% 23.5% WEST COVINA 40.4% 8.1% 16.3% 0.4% 0.2% 34.6%

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census