The Hispanic population has "spiked by 54 percent" in the rural Great Plains, reviving many communities, The New York Times reports. Hispanic residents are opening Mexican groceries in vacated storefronts, enrolling in diminishing school districts, living in formerly vacant houses and working in these small communities, correspondent A.G. Sulzberger reports. (Times graphic: Hispanic and white population changes, Hispanic percentage change; click for larger version)
Bazine, Kan., has seen population growth for the first time in over a half century, The latest census shows the town a population of 334 and an increase in Hispanic population from 4 to 86 from 2000 to 2010, Sulzberger reports. "The decline was happening," Mayor Patricia Showalter told him. "And then the Hispanics came." Now houses are occupied and the local school has seen an increase in enrollment, from 35 to 46.
Despite the growing Hispanic population's contribution to the Great Plains' rural communities and economy, not everyone welcomes the changes. Ulysses, Kan., population 6,161, has a Hispanic population that equals its non-Hispanic population, and many Anglo residents complain about cultural differences and don't like the changes. But former mayor Thadd Kistler told Sulzberger, "We're either going to change or we're going to die. . . this immigration is happening and the communities that are extending a hand are going to survive." (Read more)
Bazine, Kan., has seen population growth for the first time in over a half century, The latest census shows the town a population of 334 and an increase in Hispanic population from 4 to 86 from 2000 to 2010, Sulzberger reports. "The decline was happening," Mayor Patricia Showalter told him. "And then the Hispanics came." Now houses are occupied and the local school has seen an increase in enrollment, from 35 to 46.
Despite the growing Hispanic population's contribution to the Great Plains' rural communities and economy, not everyone welcomes the changes. Ulysses, Kan., population 6,161, has a Hispanic population that equals its non-Hispanic population, and many Anglo residents complain about cultural differences and don't like the changes. But former mayor Thadd Kistler told Sulzberger, "We're either going to change or we're going to die. . . this immigration is happening and the communities that are extending a hand are going to survive." (Read more)
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