Census 2010: Bed-Stuy Gentrified

The 2010 U.S. Census figures are in. Bed-Stuy residents were heard and were counted, and the numbers show that the composition and complexion of the neighborhood, the borough and the entire city's population are changing.

This is hardly new news for Bed-Stuy residents. But the shifts still tell an interesting numerical tale and serve as an augur for what's around the bend.

The most notable change is seen in the reverse of what is known as "white flight." The numbers show that a large population of blacks is leaving for the suburbs, while the white population across all five boroughs has either held steady or has increased.

Only ten years ago, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg were considered marginal neighborhoods. Today, in numbers alone, both account for one of the largest population gains.

According to the new census figures, gentrification by whites is widening the income gap in neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where populations of all income groups have increased slightly while black populations have gone down.

In fact, the black population shrunk by double digits in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, but jumped in Canarsie and Flatlands. The white population swelled in Clinton Hill, Sunset Park and Bushwick, but declined in Bensonhurst, according to The New York Times.

For the first time, since the 1970's, half of Manhattan's population is non-Hispanic white. The rest of the composition is 24 percent Hispanic, 14 percent black and 11 percent Asian, according to the Census.

Census figures also show that in the last ten years, across every borough, more non-Hispanic whites, Mexicans and Arabs are moving deeper into the outer boroughs, as blacks, Latinos and Asians move out.

This slow shift has created a more colorful composition across the board, with Kings county now rivaling Queens county as the most ethnically diverse area in the country and maybe even the world, according to New York Magazine.

Census figures also show that since 2000, New York has absorbed its greatest immigrant populations from the Dominican Republic, China and Mexico. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ghana and other regions of sub-Saharan Africa also account for a significant influx.

For every person that moves into Brooklyn, another person moves out. In fact, according to New York Magazine, if it weren't for a steady influx of immigrants, gentrification and an unusually high increase in native-born Brooklynites, Brooklyn would have lost more than 300,000 people in the past decade, instead of gaining 100,000 as it did.

The latest figures are the single largest data release in the Census Bureau's history, providing a look for the first time since 2000 at a variety demographic characteristics.

Stay tuned for future census updates, where will look at other trends in demographics across Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and New York City, such as education and employment levels and travel and spending habits.