NEW, AGING LOS ANGELES

During the last decade, Los Angeles County grew by about 300,000, which is an insignificant figure for a region of 9.8 million people. Not unlike the previous decade, the slight increase in population was made possible by an increase in the number of Latinos (10.5%) and non-Hispanic Asians (18%). This growth was rendered less effective by a corresponding decline in non-Hispanic white (7.4%) and non-Hispanic African American (8.5%) populations. Immigration, the demographic fuel that previously fed the economic engine of this county and that of the state, also has witnessed some changes. We have become less a city of immigrants and more a city of aging immigrants and native-born population. With little in-migration from other states, we are beginning a new phase in our trajectory: aging together, native and foreign born. As I discuss here, this is a crucial moment in our history as the proverbial fork in the road appears before us. We need to decide whether we want to continue to be a destination of choice for the working-age population, who has put the "gold" in the golden state, or if we wish to walk along the current demographic path and age gracefully. The policy directions for each option differ and require our collective thinking on behalf of the future generations who will inherit the city and the state we leave behind. In the following sections, I offer a brief overview of Los Angeles County's emerging demographic structure and discuss some of the interesting aspects of the observed changes. More important, I discuss what the emerging changes might mean to policy makers and planners. Adapted from the source document.